Vodka is not expensive; plus, it was not invented until Mendeleev. Plus, Russians do not have a love affair with it. Look at beer consumption.
--- On Mon, 11/24/08, Dorene Cornwell <dorenefc at gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Dorene Cornwell <dorenefc at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Russian economy: it must be serious
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Monday, November 24, 2008, 9:51 PM
> How things have slipped apparently since Soviet times. If
> there were a large
> supply of unsold vodka somewhere I am surprised the
> resourceful Russian
> drinkers haven't managed some kind of ad-hoc
> distribution network with or
> without credit.
>
> Also wonder how supplies of home brew or indices of
> methanol poisoning are
> holding up.
>
> Is it possible this writer is adept at a muddled story as
> some in the US who
> report on the economy?
>
> If I have a few minutes later, I will try to look for some
> other press on
> the topic, but....
>
> DC
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 6:34 PM, Doug Henwood
> <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> > <
> >
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/3513268/Russians-turn-away-from-vodka-in-hard-times.html
> > >
> >
> > Russians turn away from vodka in hard times
> > The global financial crisis is succeeding where many a
> Kremlin campaign has
> > failed by forcing Russians to turn away from the vodka
> bottle.
> >
> > By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
> > Last Updated: 5:52PM GMT 24 Nov 2008
> >
> > Russians have such a love affair with vodka that they
> have built a museum
> > dedicated to it in Moscow Photo: EPA
> > With retailers struggling to find credit and ordinary
> Russians being forced
> > to change their spending, a vast lake of undrunk vodka
> is accumulating in
> > distilleries across Russia.
> >
> > Official statistics indicate a collapse in demand for
> vodka over the past
> > two months. November inventories of unsold vodka stock
> have risen to 82
> > million litres, a 600 per cent increase from 2007,
> according to the National
> > Alcohol Association.
> > The vodka lake has grown even as desperate producers
> have slashed output,
> > which fell by 15 per cent in October according to
> industry estimates.
> >
> > Retailers and producers alike attribute the main
> reason for the collapse in
> > the market to the evaporation of credit, with many
> suppliers unable to
> > refinance loans from banks to buy new supplies.
> >
> > "People are spending less money on alcohol and
> other products because of
> > the financial crisis," said Pavel Shapkin, the
> executive secretary of the
> > National Alcohol Association. "As people try to
> save money, they are turning
> > to cheaper brands."
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