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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor

GDXJ 105.33

+5.2%

Nov 26 4:00 PM EST

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To: Alex who wrote (19406)	9/21/1998 6:35:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) of 116770

Primakov seeks to reimpose state's vodka monopoly By Marcus Warren in Moscow <Picture>City: Russians 'stole billions in IMF aid' RUSSIA'S prime minister, has yet to announce a full cabinet line-up but has wasted no time in stamping his authority on an area of life central to the national identity: alcohol, which in Russia means vodka. In the most vivid demonstration so far of his strong-man approach to boosting the state's authority, Yevgeny Primakov has called for a restoration of the state's monopoly on the production and sale of alcohol. This is one of the first government policies of any kind to be adopted since Russia devalued the rouble and defaulted on its short-term debts a month ago. Since then, the country has been paralysed by uncertainty and economic disarray. It still has no finance minister. This week the cabinet is due to discuss whether Mr Primakov intends to reimpose the monopoly and whether it will also cover wine and beer. But his preliminary remarks suggest that the state wants to control all alcoholic beverages. One man selling spirits at a Moscow kiosk said: "They have tried to do this several times over the last few years. We will wait and see whether this lot can succeed where the others failed." A return of state control over vodka will be cheered by the many Russians who see it as a key indicator of the state's power. The pro-monopoly lobby argues that both the state and ordinary Russians have suffered without state control. They say that in recent years there has been an unprecedented decline in the quality of vodka sold on the streets. In 1997 some 43,000 Russians were killed by low quality vodka and every other bottle of the national drink on sale had been produced illegally, according to the Interior Ministry. However, many of the deaths will have been caused by Russians' fondness for moonshine. This is unlikely to be affected by the return of the monopoly. Vodka is usually described as Russia's second currency after the US dollar. Over the centuries Tsars and Communist party chiefs derived a large share of their income from the vodka monopoly. Russian leaders interfere with the monopoly at their peril. Mikhail Gorbachev's attempt to wean Russians off the hard stuff by cutting production and restricting sales in the middle Eighties helped to finish off the Soviet economy. President Yeltsin launched Russia's experiment with economic liberalisation in 1992 by abolishing the monopoly. The vodka industry calculated that this move cost the state an estimated œ250 million a month in lost revenue. telegraph.co.uk

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