Recent Highlights:
· ICAP has launched a series of Expert Interviews on our YouTube channel. Global Actions Country Manager Lanre Onigbogi spoke about recent activity in Nigeria.
Global Actions in Focus: Noncommercial Alcohol in Russia
Russia is a country of focus for Global Actions’ Noncommercial Alcohol initiative. For many years, unrecorded alcohol has comprised a large segment of the market in Russia. It includes home production of vodka (samogon) and illicit alcohol production for commercial purposes. Among the very poor and marginalized, consumption of surrogate alcohol has been a public health issue. There have been numerous efforts to ban or restrict the production and sale of noncommercial alcohol but today, Russians are still buying homemade samogon.
“There is a tradition in Eastern Europe of purchasing alcohol from individual suppliers,” said ICAP’s Senior Vice President Marjana Martinic. “Many of these relationships are still intact. In most cases, the producers of samogon rely on sales to supplement their incomes.”
Our studies show that people in Russia consume noncommercial alcohol for three main reasons: lower price when compared to legally produced drinks, round-the-clock availability, and a long tradition of home production. “As in other parts of the world, the consumption of unrecorded alcohol is driven by price,” said ICAP’s Science and Policy Analyst Guillermo Cantor. “Legally produced commercial vodka is often twice as expensive as illicit vodka.”
Vodka is clearly the drink of choice in Russia, with spirits making up 60% of pure alcohol consumption, beer at 30% and wine at 10%. “Vodka is the preferred beverage in Russia,” said Dr. Martinic. “The prevalent drinking pattern is heavy episodic drinking. Among many Russians, drunkenness is culturally acceptable.”
ICAP has partnered with the National Research Centre on Addictions to conduct case studies on the current state of noncommercial alcohol in Russia. A pilot study has been completed in Moscow region’s town of Klin and surrounding rural areas, where 24% of the population report consuming samogon, and 3.5% report consuming surrogates. ICAP plans to include other locations throughout Russia in Phase 2 of the Noncommercial Alcohol project.
Read more about Noncommercial Alcohol under ICAP’s Issues Briefings.
What’s Happening Next:
· Beijing, China, October 28: Global Actions China will meet with the China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association (CADIA) and China Association of National Advertisers (CANA) to discuss self-regulation.
· Nairobi, Kenya: November 20-21, Global Actions noncommercial alcohol meeting with researchers, government, and industry from five countries in Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, and Botswana).
