Rumors of an impending increase in prices for spirits and, in particular, for vodka, have been circulating persistently over the past six months. The chief sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation, Mr. Onishchenko, constantly spoke about the need to raise prices for strong alcohol and use this increase as an effective measure designed to reduce the consumption of surrogates and alcohol in general.
Mr. Onishchenko has long said that the minimum price for a half-liter bottle of vodka should be at least 200-300 rubles, which will reduce the availability of strong drinks for young people and will serve to strengthen the health of the nation.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market of the Russian Federation has already prepared a draft minimum price for alcoholic beverages with a strength above 28 degrees. It is expected that starting from July 1, 2012, prices for vodka will rise by an average of 28%. If today the cost of the cheapest half-liter bottle is about 98-100 rubles, then in July its price will increase to 125-128 rubles.
In addition, a significant increase in the excise tax on alcohol is planned by 2015. Today, for a liter of alcohol, entrepreneurs pay 254 rubles of excise taxes to the treasury, and in 3 years this amount will already be 500 rubles for weak drinks, the composition of alcohol in which does not exceed 9%, and 600 rubles for drinks with a strength of more than 9%.
If we use arithmetic calculations, then for a half-liter bottle of vodka with a strength of 40%, the excise tax is currently 49 rubles, while 23 rubles from a bottle with a standard price of 150 rubles is transferred to the state's value added revenue. It turns out that about 48% of the cost of a bottle is deducted to the state income.
When from July 1, 2012 the excise tax will be increased to 300 rubles per liter, this will entail an increase in the cost of a half-liter bottle of vodka by 13 rubles and its average price will already be 163 rubles, while more than half will be transferred to the state budget cost - 52%.
Taking into account the constantly growing inflation, it can be expected that in 2015 a standard half-liter bottle of vodka will already cost about 250 rubles, and the state will take into its income about 2/3 of the cost of the final product. Such an increase, of course, will entail an increase in the production of "burned" vodka and the products that are now produced by home distilleries.
