Alcohol License in Russia

In the Russian Federation, it is mandatory to be licensed to purchase, store, and trade alcoholic drinks and alcohol-containing products.

One must obtain a license to be allowed to trade spirits (“a license for the purchase, storage and trading of alcoholic and alcohol-containing products”, Rus. “лицензия на деятельность по закупке, хранению и поставке алкогольной и спиртосодержащей продукции”).

Companies that legally have storage facilities can engage in the import of alcohol.

If the alcoholic products to be imported contain more than 15% of ethanol, companies with an authorized capital of at least 10 million rubles can conduct trade of such products. If the content of ethyl alcohol is less than 15% of the volume, there are no special requirements for the authorized capital of a company importing alcohol.

In addition, to be issued a license, one must pay a state fee of 800 thousand rubles.
The licensing authority is the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation. The license will be valid no more than 5 years, and may be further renewed.

Note that alcohols that are in retail sale in Russia are to be accompanied by information in Russian, which must contain data about:

• alcoholic product name;
• alcoholic product price;
• manufacturer name (registered office);
• country of origin;
• certificate or conformity declaration;
• state standards, the requirements of which the alcohol must comply with;
• the volume of the drink in consumer packaging;
• names of the main ingredients that affect the taste and aroma;
• harmful substances in comparison with the mandatory requirements of state standards and contraindications to its use;
• manufacture date and best before date or expiration date;
• ethanol content in the product if it is no more than 7% (in 100 milliliters and in the whole consumer packaging);
• dangers of drinking alcohol for health.

You may also be interested in how beverages must be labeled.



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