Alcohol militia: in the Russian Federation they want to introduce duties for an ethanol license

The State Duma Committee on Economic Policy considers it appropriate to instruct interested departments to consider several proposals aimed at streamlining the turnover of the Ethanol drug on the market. In particular, we are talking about the possible introduction of state fees for a pharmaceutical license for organizations using this drug. This is stated in a letter from the State Duma Committee to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova following a meeting with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development, a number of other departments and the expert community. Izvestia investigated why this innovation is necessary and how it will affect product prices.

Against illegal alcohol

In 2023, a law was passed that introduced amendments on drug turnover and licensing, Artem Kiryanov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, reminded Izvestia. This was necessary because as a result of numerous inspections of the illegal production of alcoholic beverages, canisters — both five-liter and 20—liter - were found, allegedly containing a medicinal product, but in fact medical alcohol. The medicinal product with the name "Ethanol" is essentially an aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol. And as a result, it is used to make alcoholic beverages.

— Of all the ethyl alcohol produced in Russia in January of this year, a significant proportion went to the production of chlorhexidine and formic alcohol. Neither of them contains ethanol. Accordingly, most likely, the same ethanol is produced under the guise of formic alcohol and chlorhexidine, but a different designation is simply "pasted" on it, the politician explained.

Photo: TASS/Evgeny Odinokov

As for licensing, access to this market is quite simple, he noted. To produce products, you must pay a state fee of 10 million rubles, then the organization receives a license and operates.

— Therefore, it is necessary to tighten licensing requirements, including the introduction of state duty. Maybe, in retrospect, it is necessary to add additional excise taxes for those who have suspended balances in the system. A duty on medical alcohol has been introduced since January 2025. Medical alcohol is a household name. It is called "pharmaceutical substance of ethyl alcohol," the deputy specified. — And this duty is equated to ordinary ethyl alcohol. Accordingly, when we introduced this rule, we believed that the profitability of companies that illegally produce alcoholic products would decrease because there was a duty of 0 rubles.

Photo: TASS/Robert Michael

In general, according to the politician, we are talking about maximum counteraction to the production of illegal alcohol.

— The search for solutions is based on the understanding that businesses in this area are willing to pay fines and use renewal schemes for easy entry into the market. There will be no economic consequences for the legal market, drug manufacturers and consumers, including no price increases," Artyom Kiryanov assured.

Illegal traffic

Unfortunately, the problem of illegal ethanol trafficking has not yet been fully resolved in Russia, Nikolai Bespalov, Director of Development at RNC Pharma, an analytical company, told Izvestia. Despite significant changes in legislation over the past 10-15 years, manufacturers and sellers are finding certain loopholes to carry out illegal activities. There are still a huge number of sites on the Internet offering alcohol of any brand, from technical alcohol—containing liquids and medical ethanol to food grades.

— Medicine is a fairly large consumer of ethyl alcohol. This applies not only to the range of medicines that can be used not for their intended purpose, but for the purpose of obtaining an intoxicating effect (hawthorn tincture, alcohol—containing disinfectants, etc.), but also to technical processes, since ethanol is used as part of the technological cycle for the production of drugs that are not alcohol-containing, the expert specified.

Photo: TASS/Anton Novoderezhkin

According to his assessment, individual manufacturers use various schemes to transfer either part of their products or alcohol as raw materials to the shadow segment. It is these processes that are supposed to be combated. However, so far we are talking only about the need to formulate new approaches to control over this area, which can later become the basis of specific legislative acts, the expert believes.

— While the parameters of the final legislative acts are unknown to us, accordingly, it is very difficult to draw conclusions about the increase in prices for such drugs. But in general, even under the harshest scenarios, it is unlikely that there will be a very significant increase in the cost of such drugs. To a much greater extent, the price tag may be affected by the introduction of excise taxes on medical alcohol, which comes into force this year," said Nikolai Bespalov.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Konstantin Chalabov

At the same time, the vast majority of alcohol-containing drugs that are used for their intended purpose either have adequate alternatives without ethyl alcohol, or are consumed in such quantities that even a multiple increase in prices for them is unlikely to lead to any social problems.

Not one more: counterfeit producers to be cut off from alcohol production

Which entrepreneurs will not be allowed to produce ethanol and how the industry feels about it

— Relatively speaking, if a bottle that lasts for a month rises in price from 30-50 rubles to 60-100 rubles, nothing will change in principle, it's unpleasant, but nothing more. But for those who consume these liquids in liters, they will already have a choice whether to buy a surrogate at a pharmacy or visit an alcohol market," the expert noted.

Photo: TASS/Anton Novoderezhkin

Ultimately, the only question is the need to control the flow of legal alcohol in order to increase budget contributions by closing loopholes in the shadow sector. So this is primarily an economic issue, not a social one, the expert believes.

Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Health and Roszdravnadzor, but no responses had been received at the time of publication. The Ministry of Finance forwarded the request to the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy. The Ministry of Energy redirected Izvestia's request to Roszdravnadzor, which was also requested.