a new law has been adopted – Versiya-Saratov news agency

A new law has been adopted in the Saratov region, which is aimed at combating the so-called “nalivayki”. After the adoption of the federal law, regions received the right to establish requirements for the retail sale of beer and beer drinks, cider, poire, and mead when providing catering services only in restaurants, bars, cafes, and buffets. It will now be prohibited to sell takeaway alcohol in “nalivaykas” located in apartment buildings.

The bill was considered today, April 24, at a meeting of the Saratov Regional Duma. It takes into account the latest federal amendments. The draft law proposes in the Saratov region to establish a requirement for the retail sale of beer and beer drinks, cider, poire, and mead when providing public catering services only in public catering establishments.

At the same time, a time limit is established for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages when providing public catering services in facilities located in apartment buildings and in areas adjacent to them (with the exception of restaurants). In addition, minimum requirements for the size of the authorized capital have been established for companies selling alcohol. Now the minimum is 100 thousand rubles.

Now, after 22:00, “nalivayki” in apartment buildings will be prohibited from selling alcohol. That is, as before, buying beer “with the cap removed” will now be prohibited by law. The exception will be New Year’s Eve.

“We have the power to stop this madness when our citizens are being poisoned,” said one of the authors of the bill, Roman Gribov (United Russia). Alexander Anidalov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) noted that GOST is advisory in nature, so he did not exclude the possibility that some eateries will call themselves restaurants in order to evade responsibility. In response, Alexey Antonov (United Russia) stated that the next step has now been taken to close the “nalivkas”, but work on law enforcement practice will continue.

Deputy Vladimir Esipov (KPRF) was more categorical and called for the closure of all points selling alcohol in apartment buildings. Stanislav Denisenko (LDPR) suggested that many would take advantage of the loophole in the form of “restaurants.”

“On the territory of the Saratov region, retail sales of alcoholic beverages are not allowed when providing public catering services in public catering establishments (except for restaurants) located in apartment buildings and (or) in adjacent areas daily from 22:00 to 10:00 local time, with the exception of the period from 22:00 on December 31 to 3:00 on January 1,” the law now says.

The authors of the bill (a group of deputies from different factions) calculated that in the region, the provision of public catering services in facilities located in apartment buildings was carried out by 642 business entities in 1,491 trade and public catering facilities. Since a complete ban is not being introduced, deputies are not expecting firms to close.

They voted unanimously to approve the legislative initiative. The law against “nalivayki” will come into force on June 1, 2024.