‘I don’t think that after the excise duty imposed on strong drinks goes up, the consumers will switch to natural wine that will not be affected,’ Dmitriy Taf, Head of the Ural Division of the National Liquor Association, said to UrBC representative.

‘The excise duty rates increase every year, and I don’t believe they are going to cause any imbalance in the consumption patterns this time,’ Mr Taf said.

The excise duty imposed on strong drinks and wines will go up on January 1, 2007. These changes are not going to affect the natural wines such as champagne and sparkling wine and carbonated beverages or fizzes with up to 6% alcohol content. There will also be no extra charge for alcohol-containing pressure-packed perfumes, cosmetics, or home cleaning chemicals.

This means that as soon as next week all liquors will be subject to a single excise duty regardless of the alcohol content. This duty will come to 162 RUR per liter (compared with 159 in 2006).