Russia calls last orders on public drinking

MOSCOW: Yevgeny Nosov considers himself a law-abiding man, but shakes his head at a Russian parliament debate on Wednesday on banning drinking in public places -- then takes a defiant slug of beer.   

"I like it here. I drink and relax, I watch the pretty girls go by, and the weather's great," says Nosov, a 24-year-old classic cars restorer nursing a mid-morning bottle of Dutch beer on Moscow's Pushkin Square.   

Young men like Nosov have transformed Russia's parks, squares and even playgrounds into a myriad of unofficial 24-hour outdoor cafes.   

Now the State Duma, or lower house of parliament, wants to call last orders.   

Deputies were expected to pass a new law on Wednesday banning alcohol consumption in any public location, as well as restricting smoking.   

"Drinking beer and low alcohol drinks on the street is harming the morals and behaviour of our youth," said Gennady Gudkov, a deputy from the pro-government A Just Russia party.   

"We are a wild country and foreigners are shocked at the way we drink beer on every corner."   

The draft law targets less the traditional homeless drunks than youngsters gathering for a beer or, increasingly, a canned cocktail on their way to or from work and school.   

Experts worry the phenomenon is the tip of a deeper problem of alcoholism, a big factor in Russia's drastically low life expectancy. Men here die on average at 58 -- 16 years earlier than in Europe.   

"Drinking beer or cans of cocktails in the street is a quick route to alcoholism," Alexy Magalif, a psychologist specialising in alcoholism, said.   

"They drink during the day or evening to relax after studies, or work. They drink in the morning to get a boost. Then a psychological dependency starts, a lifestyle," he said.

"The young are the most under threat."   

Whether new laws and tougher fines will help is another question.   

Rules already forbidding drinking on public transport and in areas meant for children are routinely flouted: prime spots are underground metro stations in winter, playground swings in summer.   

There is also widespread confusion over who is allowed to drink and -- in a country where vodka rules -- even over what constitutes alcohol.   

On Pushkin Square, a policeman who would only give his first name, Alexander, incorrectly claimed that beer and other beverages with less than eight-percent alcohol content can be sold to anyone over 16. The minimum age is 18.   

The policeman expressed sympathy with the young boozers. "We were all young once. Not everyone can afford to go to bars." Nearby, Yulia Kashevarova, 30, washed down a McDonalds take-away breakfast with a tin of Jaguar, a self-described "energy drink" containing caffeine and nine percent alcohol.   

A top health official last week called such beverages "a kind of narcotic," but Kashevarova, just off a 24-hour shift at a warehouse, did not consider herself a drinker.   

"It's an adrenalin drink," she said. "I've just left work but I have chores to do before I can go home. I need the adrenalin."   

Nosov predicted the party would not end any time soon.   

"They might ban it here in central Moscow where you always have police around, but not everywhere else. They'll never manage," he said. "Anyway, why bother? We're Russians!"