What bans will be introduced in St. Petersburg for the sale of alcohol in bars at night – April 25, 2024

The discussion in the Legislative Assembly about banning the nightly sale of alcohol in residential buildings for public catering paradoxically led to the idea of ​​easing restrictions on stores. The idea of ​​alcohol reservations, proposed by residents of the center, did not find a response from business and deputies.

On April 25, a working group of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg discussed restrictions on the sale of alcohol in residential buildings. As Fontanka previously reported, they started talking about them after the State Duma gave the regions new powers in this area.

Now in the Northern capital the sale of alcohol in stores is prohibited – from 22:00 to 11:00, but unscrupulous entrepreneurs imitate public catering, obtain a license and continue to work all night long, while their noisy visitors deprive city residents of sleep.

To remove this loophole, the working group proposed introducing time limits for catering as well. In particular, on weekdays, prohibit the sale of alcohol (as well as beer, cider and poiret) from 00:00 to 8:00, and on weekends and non-working holidays – from 3:00 to 7:00. But it was proposed to exclude restaurants and all other establishments in tourist locations from the restrictions.

The idea was supported by the St. Petersburg police, and even in a stricter form. “Due to the fact that the statistics of offenses committed while intoxicated is growing inexorably, we propose to cite [правила для общепита] in accordance with retail, that is, from 22:00 to 11:00,” said Nina Aleksandrovna Isakova, deputy head of the 2nd department of the Legal Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

Business predictably met the initiative with hostility. A ban on the night sale of alcohol will lead to the closure of bona fide businesses and, since demand will not go away, will cause a surge in the sale of illegal alcohol and a worsening crime situation, says Boris Borisov, a representative of the RosAl chain. “They [криминальные структуры] They are just waiting for a decision to be made,” he emphasized. According to him, if we are to limit it, then from 3:00 to 7:00, and then we need to give the business a year to adapt to new conditions.

Restaurateur Ekaterina Bokuchava (Saint Espresso, Mesto, Bar 8 and others) suggested increasing the opening hours of public catering in residential buildings to at least 4:00. “We live in a city of broken bridges. If the establishment closes at 3 a.m., you have to be somewhere for two hours to get to the other side,” she explained.

But even such mild restrictions may affect establishments operating in the nightclub format, noted Alexander Romanenko, a representative of the Union of Independent Restaurateurs. “A limit on hours equals closure, no matter how they try to cover it up with tinsel,” he emphasized. And he called the idea to remove establishments in a tourist center from the ban as segregation: “Good bars in other areas will be in unequal conditions.”

The entrepreneur suggested that the deputies study the example of Sweden, where the retail sale of alcohol is in the hands of the state, there are few stores themselves, and they operate for a very limited time, while the country’s authorities strongly support the bar business. “Public catering and bars also carry out dealcoholization. They drink less and under the supervision of market professionals,” he said.

When public catering establishments were banned from working at night during the coronavirus pandemic, many went into the red, recalled the head of the Rubinstein Street Union, chairman of the public catering committee for small and medium-sized businesses of the St. Petersburg regional branch of Business Russia, Maxim Zhukov. And if the business is unprofitable, then no subsidies will save it – the establishments will simply close.

“The restrictions will lead to people sitting in parks and courtyards at night with a bottle,” said Vladimir Menshikov, director of the Union of Small Enterprises. At the same time, there are night establishments, including in residential buildings, to which residents have no complaints, he noted. “We are creating new restrictions that will lead to the growth of the illegal market,” agreed Maxim Chernigovsky, a representative of the Club of Alcohol Market Professionals. According to him, if the law on silence were observed in the city, then there would be much fewer complaints from residents about public catering.

Residents of St. Petersburg, suffering from the dominance of drinking establishments, believe that restrictions on the sale of alcohol from 3:00 to 7:00, which are proposed to be established for weekends, will do little to help them sleep peacefully at night. “I, among other things, work with the nuclear weapons complex, should I write to Shoigu that, excuse me, we are delaying the production of ballistic missiles because we have to wait until 7 in the morning and not fall asleep?” — one of the Rubinshteina Street activists asked the parliamentarians. He also spoke out against removing locations popular among city guests from restrictions. “This condemns residents of tourist areas to sleepless nights,” noted Alexander Khitruk. In his opinion, the peace of the townspeople could be ensured by the relocation of the night business to non-residential areas – for example, to New Holland and Perinnye Ryad. The idea was supported by other residents who participated in the working group meeting.

However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was not inspired by the idea of ​​alcohol reservations. “There will be a high concentration of offenses,” said Nina Isakova.

Ekaterina Bokuchava agreed that the interests of the population come before business. “But how do the rights of drinkers differ from the rights of non-drinkers?” she asked the panelists. The restaurateur called for leaving civilized establishments alone and focusing on the fight against the liqueurs, which is why everyone gathered.

At the very end of the meeting, the deputies took the floor. The parliamentarians assured those gathered that they did not have the task of harassing law-abiding businesses. “We are the bar capital,” said United Russia member Pavel Krupnik. According to him, bars offer citizens civilized leisure, and bring taxes to the city. LDPR representative Pavel Itkin recalled the example of the sealed Duma, which, in his opinion, proves that it is still possible to find justice for unscrupulous public catering. “Let’s fight what gets in the way, not those who work in a civilized manner,” he urged.

New People deputy Dmitry Pavlov warned his colleagues against too strict restrictions. “We’re starting to put a strain on businesses who look at this and think: maybe they should do something else?” – he said. His fellow party member Dmitry Panov called for thinking “non-linearly” and, instead of restrictions for restaurants, consider increasing the permitted time for “disciplined sale of alcohol” in stores until 23:00. This will help reduce the consumption of illegal alcohol, “with which people are poisoned,” the deputy explained.

As a result, the parliamentarians agreed that they still need to work on the proposals so that the bans hit the werewolf drinkers and do not affect honest public catering. “We can’t expect the owners of liqueurs to confess,” admitted the head of the working group, Denis Chetyrbok.

Galina Boyarkova,
“Fontanka.ru”