MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is considering measures to hike the price of small bottles of vodka, which experts believe could lead to them disappearing from shelves in Russian stores, a Russian newspaper reported.
An official request by a Russian alcohol market regulator that would make 0.375-liter and 0.5-liter bottles of vodka the same price has been sent to the country’s Justice Ministry for registration, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported last week.
By producing bottles of vodka that contain slightly less than 0.5 liters, Russian companies have found a way to avoid the government’s measure of setting a minimum price for vodka (174 rubles, or $5.30, per half-liter bottle), the report says.
“Buyers often cannot tell at first glance that the bottle’s volume is less and choose the cheaper bottle. The customer is misled and fair competition is distorted,” the newspaper said, citing the regulator.
Sales of 0.375-liter vodka bottles increased in Russia by 8 percent in the first half of 2013, according to a recent study by Russian market research company GFK-Rus. The trend was likely the “result of customers’ reactions to growing prices,” the company said.
Russians bought 24 percent less vodka than in the same period last year, the study says.
