Demand for Alcohol Is Spiking in Russia — Here’s Why

the flag of Russia, Russian, nearby Keukenhof Gardens entry, Netherlands, on May 4, 2013. (Photo/Libor Sojka (CTK via AP Images)

The Drinks Business reported Sunday that Russian data analysts have found evidence that the country broke a nine-year record for alcohol consumption. The study, named the “To be Precise” project, discovered that Russian consumers imbibed 8 liters of alcohol, and analysts surmise the number might be higher by a third.

The analysts studied data from the Russian Central Research Institute of Organisation and Information of Health Care, the Russian State Statistics Service Rosstat, and the local alcohol regulator Rosalkogolregulirovanie, according to The Drinks Business.

“Currently the per capita sales of absolute alcohol are growing in Russia,” a researcher for the Center for Demographic Research of the Russian Economic School named Evgeny Andreev said, according to Kommersant, a Russian newspaper. “This clearly indicates an increase in consumption. This is how the population responds to difficulties.”

The study suggests that the Russian marketplace has shifted away from wine and beer to strong spirits, like vodka, cognac and liqueurs, since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Drinks Business reported that data suggested the highest levels of consumption in Russia’s northern and eastern areas.

The data also suggests growth in alcohol consumption in historically Muslim regions like Chechnya and Dagestan. Typically, these regions favor dry policies and discourage alcohol consumption.

Russia’s Higher School of Economics suggested that alcohol consumption was growing even before the pandemic due to increasingly lax alcohol restrictions within the country. According to the institution, Russia had its own quali-prohibitionist movement, and consumption slowed from 2010-2020.

The Moscow Times reported in January that first-use alcohol disorder diagnoses dropped from 153,000 to 53,000 in Russia from 2010 to 2021. The country’s health ministry claimed COVID-19 caused the number to jump to 54,200, marking Russia’s first alcohol dependency increase in a decade.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country eased up its attitudes toward alcohol, according to The Drinks Business. The study suggests that “psychological tension” from the pandemic and an increasingly unstable political situation led to increased liquor consumption. The Drinks Business also indicated that a higher standard of living for lower income Russians and a “massive information attack” about rising import prices has led several Russian citizens to stockpile booze.

The outlet additionally shared that the price of vodka dropped, particularly from domestic suppliers. Naturally, lower prices make the product easier for the Russian people to purchase and ultimately consume. The Russian beverage company called Ladoga reported a 150% increase in alcoholic beverage sales from 2019 to 2023.

Vodka: A Powerful Driver of Russia’s Economy That Comes at a High Cost

Politico reported in May 2023 that Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, aimed to consolidate vodka production in 2000 before he was sworn into office. The outlet reported that he created a new vodka company called Rosspirtprom, which stands for the Russian Spirits Industry.

In August 2000, Putin sent a swarm of troops with AK-47s to occupy one of the most popular vodka brands, Kristall. Eventually, Rosspiritprom took over the facilities and other vodka distilleries within the country.

The Russian leader has his own brand of Vodka named after him, Putinka, which Politico claimed was one of Russia’s most popular brands in 2004. Politico reported Putinka has brought in around $500 million in revenue per year. Whether Putin sees profits from Putinka sales remains a mystery.

As Russia’s elite lined their pockets with Putinka and domestic vodka sales, the lower classes purchasing the spirit were dying of alcoholism at record rates.

The President himself is reportedly not much of a drinker, but he understood the value of the country’s vodka industry and had a different kind of thirst for the valuable asset.

Putin eventually caved to pressures from health officials in 2006 and allegedly made efforts to address the country’s high rate of alcohol poisoning. The regulations eventually lead to Rosspiritprom’s demise, and Putin bailed his own company out for 5 billion rubles ($165 million).

History appears to be repeating itself. Since the country lowered the prices of domestic vodka, the scope of alcohol abuse continues to increase.

“You don’t have to read the newspapers, listen to the radio, watch TV or know anything about high-level intrigues to deduce that the powers-that-be long ago ceased to care about the well-being of the people,” claimed Russia’s leading expert on alcoholism, Dr. Aleksandr Nemtsov to Politico.

In May 2022, Putinka vodka adopted a new label change to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. The labels featured slogans like “svoikh ne brosayem,” which translated to “we don’t abandon our own,” according to Politico.

The Hill reported in July 2023 that Russian soldiers were turning to liquor to cope with the terrors of war. Though tales of soldiers imbibing liquor to lower their inhibitions are nothing new, horror stories have emerged of violence, such as an incident in April when two Russian soldiers went on a rogue murder spree, killing 7 people and burning their homes when they could not access alcohol.

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