The Ministry of Internal Affairs commented on the initiative to ban the sale of alcohol to foreigners

Representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Irina Volk commented a proposal to limit the right of foreign citizens to participate in the retail trade of alcohol and tobacco products. The day before, State Duma deputy Sultan Khamzaev sent such an initiative to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Ms. Volk responded by recalling that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is an executive body, not a legislative one.

“The topic is undoubtedly a pressing one. However, it should be noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation is a federal executive body. Whatever restrictions and prohibitions the legislators introduce, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs will implement them,” Irina Volk wrote in her Telegram channel.

Previously RT with reference to the appeal of Sultan Khamzaev, he wrote that the ban on the retail sale of alcohol and tobacco for foreigners “will minimize the number of offenses related to the sale of these products at night,” and will also reduce the sale of these products to persons under 18 years of age.

In the appeal, the deputy notes that a similar ban was introduced in the Tula region, and it is not necessary to extend the restriction to the entire country “due to the urgency of the problem.”

In addition, the deputy’s appeal states that in 2023, the number of crimes related to the sale of counterfeit alcohol amounts to more than a dozen cases recorded by the media. According to him, foreign citizens were often involved in the production and sale of such products.

On November 28, 2023, the governor of the Tula region, Alexey Dyumin, signed a decree according to which foreign citizens cannot work in the retail trade of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, in public catering, as public transport and taxi drivers. The decree came into force at the beginning of 2024. A ban on foreigners working in transport has also been introduced this year in the Magadan, Chelyabinsk and Kaluga regions.