Russia: Finance Ministry raises minimum prices for brandy, cognac, and vodka, but not beer

Russia’s Ministry of Finance raised the minimum retail price for 0.5 litre bottles of brandy from 324 to 348 rubles, for cognac from 446 to 480 rubles, and for vodka from 243 to 261 rubles. The minimum wholesale price was raised for vodka from 210 to 222 rubles, for brandy from 269 to 284 rubles, and for cognac from 370 to 391 rubles.  The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), and the Ministry of Financedecided, however, against setting a minimum retail price for beer, reportedly because small and medium-sized producers would not be the beneficiaries and because the change, it was thought, might lead more consumers to buy stronger spirits, rather than beer.