Russia (bbabo.net), - The State Assembly of Yakutia has taken a forced step back in the legal consolidation of a tough anti-alcohol policy. In "sober" villages, they were allowed to sell alcohol. And although the bill was adopted by Il Tumen only in the first reading, in the final version it may change only at the comma level, if the rules for regulating the alcohol market remain the same at the federal level.

In 2013, when a local law on restrictions on the sale of alcohol was adopted in Yakutia, the regions were allowed to impose a complete ban on the sale of such products. To date, residents of 188 villages have used this right in the republic, declaring their settlements zones of sobriety. So that no one would have a desire to look for loopholes in the decisions of rural gatherings, for each such initiative, Il Tumen adopted a separate law prohibiting the sale of alcohol in these territories in shops, cafes and elsewhere.

However, in 2017, the State Duma limited the right of regional authorities to interfere in this area of ​​business. Now they could still impose restrictions (up to a ban) on the conditions, time and place of trade in alcohol, but with the exception of catering establishments. This change made all the Yakutians' work on the formation of zones of sobriety meaningless. What's the use of not selling vodka in a store if you can buy it in a rural cafe?

For almost four years, the Yakut deputies delayed bringing the local regulations in line with the changed federal legislation. This could not continue indefinitely, especially since one of the entrepreneurs appealed to the Supreme Court of Yakutia with a demand to declare the regional law invalid in terms of the ban on the sale of alcohol by public catering enterprises and in the summer of 2020 won the process. Failure to comply with the court decision threatened the parliament of the republic with dissolution. But for the residents of villages that have given up alcohol, the surrender of positions can have such serious consequences that even in this situation, at a recent plenary session, when this collision was discussed, Vice-Speaker of the State Assembly Viktor Gubarev said:

- I will not raise my hand to vote for such a bill.

He stressed that allowing public catering to sell alcohol in still "sober" villages is even worse than returning vodka to store shelves. A total ban was introduced in order to protect rural youth from contemplating bottles, but it is she who will be the first to reach for a "cultural drink" in a cafe if alcohol appears in them.

Nevertheless, the majority of the deputies voted to bring the local law in line with the federal one. There was nowhere to go. Moreover, according to the chairman of Il Tumen, Aleksey Yeremeyev, the delay in this decision did not benefit the republic at all.

- More than ten more bills have been submitted to the State Assembly from the representative bodies of municipalities, which want to introduce zones of sobriety in their villages. But due to the fact that we have not been able to adopt this law for several years, we have no right to consider them. Representatives of another 30 municipalities are consulting with us about introducing a ban on the sale of alcohol there too. We cannot work with them either, because we have fallen into a legal trap, ”he said.

There is little sense in the "semi-dry" law without vodka in stores and with alcohol in cafes - the zones of sobriety will be limited by the number of tables. But the speaker urged the deputies not to dramatize the situation and to continue working with the State Duma and colleagues from other regions to defend their position.

- Many regions come up with proposals to return to the subjects of the Federation the right to regulate the sale of alcohol in public catering. We need to join their initiatives or develop our own bill. In the meantime, we have no other choice but to execute the decision of the Supreme Court, - he summed up.

By the way

The deputies asked the Minister of Entrepreneurship of the Republic Irina Vysokikh: are there many people willing to open cafes with alcohol on the menu in "sober" villages? It turned out that so far there has not been a single appeal. But this is connected not with the concern of entrepreneurs about the healthy lifestyle of the population, but with the high cost of a license to sell alcohol.

- The duty is high, and the sale of alcohol in such villages is still officially prohibited by local law. Therefore, no one wants to waste money, the minister explained.

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