Ukrainian drinks more alcohol since beginning of Russian invasion

23-11-2022

Eastern Europe

From January to October, the Ukrainian authorities collected more money from alcohol taxes than was expected. In total, an amount of 5.31 billion Ukrainian grivnas (about 141,000 euros) came in. That is 3.9 per cent more than planned.

The head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, Danylo Hetmantsev said, as reported by Slovoproslovo. He thinks that the increase in tax money shows that the increasing government interference in the Ukrainian vodka market is successful.

According to Danylo Hetmantsev, it is surprising that the taxes resulted in more money because the country had to deal with an economic crisis due to the Russian invasion. In March and April, many regions forbade the sale of alcohol, in particular Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and other areas.

Schoolchildren

Ukraine is known as the first on the ranks of alcohol alcoholism. That is shown by statistics. Furthermore, the mortality rate in Ukraine is one of the highest in Europe, Slovoproslovo writes. Of Ukrainian schoolchildren, 87 per cent drank alcoholic drinks at least once, and 26 per cent consumed alcohol several times a month. Yet, the Ukrainian government does nothing to restrict alcohol consumption. Instead, it promotes legislative initiatives which stimulate “uncontrolled production of homemade alcohol”, Slovoproslovo writes.

A view of an Orthodox church covered with snow after a snowfall in the town of Podolsk, outside Moscow, Russia. Photo EPA, Maxim Shipenkov

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