Does an individual entrepreneur have the right to sell alcohol? Alcohol business: how to open a liquor store. Business plan for an alcohol store - from documents to equipment Restrictions on the types of activities of individual entrepreneurs

Today we will look at the question: “How to open a liquor store?” Products of this profile have always been in great demand. And at the moment, opening your own liquor store means providing yourself with high and stable profits. Although the government, together with health care, is trying in every way to protect people from this product (by introducing various restrictions), its popularity does not decrease. Next, the main nuances and features of this business will be discussed.

License

First, let's look at what is needed to sell alcoholic beverages. First of all, this is a license. The sale of alcohol without it is strictly prohibited, and violation of this clause is punishable by penalties, which we will discuss below. Your store must be registered as an LLC (Limited Liability Company), CJSC (Closed Joint Stock Company) or OJSC (Open Joint Stock Company).

The latter should be used if you intend to organize large-scale sales of products. But in most cases, a closed joint stock company or LLC is best suited for small retail sales. Most often, a license is issued for a period of 5 years. After which it must be extended. The state (in this case Russia) imposes a separate fee for the use of the license. 1 year will cost you 40 thousand rubles. For 5 years of using the license you need to pay 200 thousand.

Selling without a license

Many people are interested in the question: “What is the penalty for selling alcohol without a license?” It’s worth saying right away that there is no universal answer. It all depends on the amount of products seized. If we are talking about one or two bottles of beer, then there will be no criminal liability, there will only be a fine. In addition, the number of persons involved is added to the scale of trade as a circumstance.

This act is classified under Article 171 of the Criminal Code - “Illegal entrepreneurship.” The maximum fine can reach 300 thousand rubles (or the amount of earnings for a period of up to 2 years is confiscated). Otherwise, violators may be detained for up to 6 months.

Additional requirements

Before opening a liquor store and obtaining a license, you must collect a package of documents and fulfill all the conditions relating to the premises. If finances allow, it is recommended to turn to specialized services. This way you will save yourself nerves and time. And in some situations, money, because if the conditions imposed for issuing a license are not met, then the money spent will not be returned.

The requirements of SES, fire inspection, rules of authorized capital - all this must be taken into account when opening a store. A mandatory condition is the minimum rental period of the premises (from 1 year). It is also prohibited for the building to be located near educational institutions, kindergartens, hospitals and other similar structures. If you are unfamiliar with all the requirements imposed by the state in relation to alcohol stores, then it is better to entrust this to specialists. Today there are many companies that provide assistance in paperwork.

Room

If, despite all the difficulties of paperwork, you still want to know how to open a liquor store, then let’s move on to a description of the premises. In addition to the requirements for location and rental period, the building must have a minimum area of ​​50 square meters. m. Therefore, regardless of the direction of your business, you need to focus on this size.

Next, you need to decide what scale of trade you want to organize. The main thing is that all products fit on shelves that customers should see in front of them. As for the client area, it should be spacious so that people do not crowd all in one place. If the store is self-service, then you need to carefully consider the location of goods and the cash register.

As for the location of the building in the city, everything is simple. If it is a large supermarket, then you need to be closer to the center (where there are large crowds of people). If you want to open a small store, it is recommended to look for a place in residential areas. Of course, this is all simple in theory; in practice, you will have to put a lot of effort into finding a suitable place. You need to choose an elite sleeping area, otherwise problems in the future are inevitable.

Equipment

When drawing up a business plan for a liquor store, you must not forget to take into account the quality of the equipment. To open a business, you need to buy racks, shelves, and refrigeration units. The price of this equipment varies greatly depending on the manufacturer and source materials. All racks must occupy a specially designated space for them.

Therefore, it is worth spending some time on the distribution of equipment. For normal operation of refrigeration units, you need to carefully check the wiring and, if necessary, replace it. Independence in this case can be disastrous. Therefore, you will have to spend money and pay professionals.

Range

Here we come to the most important point. A well-chosen assortment is the key to success. The brand of the product they buy means a lot to people. Therefore, the most famous alcoholic drinks will always be in demand. It’s a completely different matter with unfamiliar brands. The likelihood that unknown brands will gather dust on store shelves for a long time is high.

During the first period of business existence, it is recommended to purchase only well-known and popular alcoholic products. And after you have built up a regular clientele, you can become interested in rarer brands. Unusual alcoholic drinks may also not be sold for a long time. Generally, people do not like to experiment frequently when purchasing new products. There should be no question about quality. It should be very high. It is quality that attracts today's buyers. Even if the price is a little high, customers will still prefer to overpay a little rather than sacrifice their health.

In our country it is difficult to imagine organizing and holding any celebrations without alcoholic beverages. Therefore, many entrepreneurs choose this area for their business. But for this to be truly profitable, you need to understand the rules of trading. There are a number of requirements that an entrepreneur must meet. The first of these is obtaining a license to conduct this activity, but according to the law, it is not issued to individual entrepreneurs. So how can individual entrepreneurs sell alcoholic beverages in 2019?

What kind of alcohol can an individual entrepreneur sell?

In 2019, in order to engage in the sale of alcoholic beverages, it is necessary to obtain a license if the drinks that are planned for sale contain at least 6% ethyl alcohol. But they can sell low-alcohol drinks, for which a license is not required. These include:

• beer;
• poire;
• mead;
• beer drinks;
• cider and others.

Features of trade in low-alcohol drinks in 2019

In 2019, there were changes in the process of trading both alcoholic and low-alcohol drinks. This is due to the mandatory connection of individual entrepreneurs who are engaged or planning to engage in the sale of low-alcohol drinks to the Unified State Automated Information System. The latter is a unified state automated system that collects information on how much ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and low-alcohol products are produced and sold. EGAIS has existed for about 10 years. But in 2019, this framework is being tightened to implement state control over the volumes and use of these products in the country’s markets.

It is worth noting that this year beer comes under very careful control, which is associated with large volumes of counterfeit products on the market for these products. It is EGAIS that will help control the quality of products in everyday life, as well as the payment of excise taxes from manufacturers.

Therefore, individual entrepreneurs who sell beer or other low-alcohol drinks must enter purchase data into the Unified State Automated Information System database. They do not have to report sales in this system, namely the number of products purchased for subsequent trading.

To start transferring information to this registry, you need to install a universal transport module. You can connect to the database yourself without submitting any additional applications.

The algorithm for setting up communication with EGAIS is as follows:

1. check the data of your computer equipment, which must meet the following parameters:

• RAM – at least 2 GB;
• core – at least 2 GHz;
• operating system – Windows, but versions from 7.

1. register on the official website of RosAlcoRegulation egais.ru, immediately opening a personal account in which you need to enter all additional data;
2. Next, you need to download to your equipment the already mentioned program, a universal transport module that will connect the point of sale of alcohol and the Unified State Automated Information System;
3. The next stage of integration into this database is the purchase of a special crypto-key such as JaCarta, as well as adding a qualified electronic signature to it. The cost of these procedures will be within 4 thousand rubles.
4. The installation of the universal module should be carried out on the equipment that is directly used in the process of selling alcohol, namely on the computer where the cash register program is installed.

The EGAIS notification system for individual entrepreneur purchases will work as follows:

1. the supplier delivers the goods to the point of sale or storage warehouse, issuing a trade bill of lading (TTN);
2. The supplier does not give the TTN to the individual entrepreneur who ordered the products, but enters it into the Unified State Automated Information System;
3. an entrepreneur who is engaged in the trade of these low-alcohol drinks also receives a document using the funds in this database, after which he checks the delivery with the TTN;
4. the result of the check is entered into the Unified State Automated Information System, namely a confirmation if all the numbers agree, or an act of discrepancy if there are inaccuracies.

The system is designed in a fairly simple way. Entrepreneurs can easily install all the necessary applications on their own and actively use them within the law. But there are also service departments that can provide services for setting up EGAIS programs for a fee.

Additional documentation for those who sell beer

Individual entrepreneurs who plan to continue activities related to the sale of low-alcohol drinks in 2019, or start it, should know that from the first day of January they need to keep a beer sales log. Its form and rules of administration were drawn up by RosAlkoRegulation, which also controls the Unified State Automated Information System.

Filling out this log can be done either manually or using various automated programs in which the corresponding accounts will be created.

The main part of the journal should contain the following information about the individual entrepreneur who trades alcoholic beverages:

• address of business activities for the sale of alcohol.

The beer sales journal itself is a form that consists of the following columns:

• serial number;
• date of sale of goods. If beer is sold in a catering establishment, then the day on which the container was printed must be entered in the form;
• barcode, which is indicated on the excise stamp;
• the name of the low-alcohol product, although for alcohol this form should also be used;
• product code according to the generally accepted Russian classifier;
• packaging volume, which indicates the amount of drink in the container sold;
• the number of containers that were sold.

Rules for filling out the sales journal

There are several basic rules for filling out a sales log of beer or other low-alcohol drinks, if we talk about individual entrepreneurs:

1. it is filled out at the location of the relevant activity, that is, where the individual entrepreneur sells this alcohol;
2. You must fill in the sales data no later than the next day after the sale;
3. in cafes, restaurants or other establishments of a similar type in which an individual entrepreneur sells beer or other low-alcohol drinks, enter the date of sale, the date when the container of alcohol was opened.

It is worth noting that the ability to enter data into the journal the day after the sale, but not later, appeared only in 2017. Previously, the procedure for maintaining such a document required those who sold alcohol to enter data on the sale immediately on the day of sale. Filling out this form also allows you to not fill out the 68-character code from the alcohol brand. The columns in which it was necessary to enter data about the alcohol manufacturer were removed from the 2019 sales log, which greatly simplifies its completion. True, at the same time there was a need for daily summing up.

Keeping a journal to record the sale of alcohol, as well as low-alcohol drinks, is possible in the following way:

1. paper format;
2. electronic file.

A paper file involves manual journaling, that is, entering data into all columns yourself.

An electronic journal file is much more convenient and profitable for individual entrepreneurs. This is due to the fact that it can already be automatically generated by connecting to EGAIS. Since connecting an individual entrepreneur to the latest database is mandatory, then compiling a log will not be difficult at all. If you use this particular method of keeping a log of the sale of alcoholic beverages, then you don’t have to fill out the last 4 columns, namely:

• name of the drink;
• code of product;
• container volume;
• quantity.

This journal is not difficult to maintain and fill out, so be sure to adhere to the law and maintain it. After all, if the sale of beer or other low-alcohol drinks to an individual entrepreneur does take place, and this is not entered into the alcohol sales register, then the entrepreneur will have to pay a fine of 10-15 thousand rubles.

Will there be changes for those who sell beer in plastic containers?

Previously, the state did not control the sale of beer, beer products or other low-alcohol products so seriously. Now the individual entrepreneur needs to join the Unified State Automated Information System. This not only tightened control, but at the same time simplified cooperation with suppliers on some level. After all, even invoices are checked in this database. Without connecting to EGAIS, you won’t be able to work with partners, who should also become part of that base. They have the right to issue products only through invoices in the specified system.

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Have you decided to devote yourself to the restaurant business or are you opening a bar or grocery store? It is a very profitable business to organize the sale of alcohol. Other income items are not as profitable. Selling alcohol allows you to earn consistently high profits. Experienced marketers jokingly note that alcohol sells remarkably well in moments when a crisis or recession occurs. This is due to the fact that people simply begin to panic. The demand for such products is always high. According to analysts, in our time this industry is the most profitable business in existence. In this case, both those who produce and those who sell goods wholesale or retail have a profit. The annual growth of goods sold is projected to be approximately 10%.

How to obtain the necessary license

Are you starting your own business, which is necessarily related to alcoholic products? In this case, it is important to obtain a mandatory license. It will give you the necessary right to carry out a certain type of activity related to the sale of these products.

Our country vigilantly monitors that all rules at the time of obtaining the necessary permission are followed as strictly as possible. The production and direct distribution of alcohol is under state control. The thing is that such a product is harmful to our health and significantly lowers the morale of society, young people in particular. All rules for obtaining the necessary permission to sell this type of product at retail are regulated by law.

First of all, you must be registered as a legal entity. Your capital (authorized capital) must be at least 1,000,000 rubles (this is based on one trading point). In order for alcohol to be sold by an ordinary business entity, you need 300 thousand rubles, and to sell it in the catering industry - 10 thousand rubles. Special permits are also issued to allow the boundaries of certain territories to be established. The state has established a minimum required price. It is impossible to make the cost of these products with alcohol content lower.

To obtain the necessary license, you must provide the relevant authority with a whole package of documents necessary for this procedure. Their list is determined by the law currently in force. You must write an application indicating all the details of your organization and the necessary contacts, the specific type of your activity and the products sold. You also need to collect copies of all documents issued during the registration and establishment of the company. Permissions from various state level authorities are also required. To obtain a compulsory license, it is advisable to contact the relevant companies. They will help you get everything done as quickly as possible. You will be provided with full support: from submitting all collected documents to issuing a completed permit.

Trading Rules

There are certain requirements for warehouses, as well as production premises. In rural areas their area should be 25 meters square, in the city - 50 meters square. The lease agreement is concluded for 12 months or a longer period. There are also a number of additional rules for trading. Products should only be sold in facilities that are stationary. Since 2013, this requirement must also be observed in relation to the sale of beer. According to the law, alcohol is not sold from 11 pm to 6 am. It is also prohibited to sell products containing alcohol in educational institutions, public places, or to minors.

Alcohol trading is a profitable business

The law that existed until recently that mandatory information on all sales made within a certain time frame must be submitted to Rosstat has now been repealed. Some other norms are also outdated. A number of amendments have appeared. For example, the concept itself was expanded. Now all products that contain 0.5% alcohol (ethyl) or more are considered alcoholic. The previously existing rules regulating the transportation, storage and direct warehousing of these drinks were also changed. By law, you can only transport alcohol if you have a license. In this case, the type of transport plays absolutely no role.

Instructions

The list of documents is quite extensive; you can check it with the administration of your locality. Mandatory documents for: certificate of compliance with the requirements of retail premises by sanitary inspection; yours and a certificate of registration with the tax authorities.

The license is given for a period of three years. You must submit the collected documents to the licensing authorities and pay the license fee.

note

The sale of alcoholic beverages is controlled by the state. The sale of alcohol to minors is prohibited. Also, each subject of the Russian Federation has its own rules for the sale of alcohol. In the Novosibirsk region, for example, it is prohibited to sell strong alcoholic drinks (over 15%) after 22:00. The same rule applies in Moscow.

Sources:

• On obtaining a license for alcoholic beverages
• what documents are needed for alcohol

License fees are not only the payment for processing an application for permission to engage in any activity, but also the fee for renewing or re-issuing a license. But how to pay for the license correctly, and in what time frame should this be done?

You will need

• bank account number or electronic wallet of the licensing authority, funds to pay for the license

Instructions

Pay the license fee for processing the application. To do this, you need to contact the licensing authority and find out its current account or e-wallet number. Make a money transfer in the amount of one minimum wage through the post office, through the nearest bank or through an electronic payment system. This fee must be paid 5-7 days before submitting the application.

Pay the license fee for the issuance itself. Payment is made using all the same methods described above. The amount of the license fee is equal to three times the minimum wage. This fee is transferred to the budget several days before the license is issued. You must pay the fee after the licensing authority has confirmed that you have been issued a license. If you have not paid the fee for issuing a license within three months, the organization has the right to revoke the license.

Pay for inspection by licensing authority employees if you operate more than 25 retail outlets. Payment for the inspection must be made within nine days from the date of completion. The size of this license fee is 20 minimum wages.

Fill out the receipt. Payment of license fees can be made using receipts issued by the licensing authority. To do this, you need to fill in the fields on the receipt about the current account, BIC, TIN of the recipient, its full name and address. Indicate in the payment receipt - “fee for issuing a license”, “fee for checking employees of the licensing authority”, “fee for reviewing an application for a license”, “fee for renewing a license”, “fee for re-issuing a license”. Fill in your personal information.

note

Payment of license fees is considered mandatory contributions to the budget and confirms the entrepreneur’s agreement to work in accordance with current legislation.

Sources:

• What is a license, when and why is it needed and how to get it?

Not all beginning entrepreneurs are familiar with how to obtain a license to produce and sell alcoholic beverages. The issues of licensing and registration of alcohol are, of course, difficult to resolve, but it is possible.

Instructions

Submit to the Federal Tax Service copies of documents required for registration of a legal entity certified by a notary:
- charter of the organized enterprise;
- agreement on the enterprise (if there are several founders);
- decision (minutes) of the general meeting on the establishment of the enterprise;
Attach an application (form P11001) to the submitted documents and pay the state fee in the prescribed amount.

Obtain the necessary statistics codes (OKPO), which reflect the type of activity, and register with extra-budgetary funds.

Open a current account. Draw up an application addressed to the manager, to which attach certified copies of documents, as well as a certificate of registration with the tax authorities, OKPO codes, and a certificate confirming your registration in extra-budgetary funds.

Obtain a license for the right to produce or sell alcoholic beverages. To do this, you must contact the branch of the State Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Licensing Department) and submit the following documents:
- certified copies of constituent documents;
- certificate of registration with the tax authorities;
- a certificate from the tax office confirming the absence of debts.
Please attach an application for a license to the documents. In addition, pay the license fee to the bank.

So that a specialist from the State Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights, upon arrival at your enterprise, or catering establishment, makes a decision to issue you a license without delay, fill out the following documents in a timely manner:
- and security of the premises;
- certificate of registration of rights to real estate;
- conclusion of the SES and security about the satisfactory condition of the premises.

If the specialist does not find any violations, then he draws up a report on the conformity of the submitted documents with reality, and within 30 days your enterprise, store or restaurant is issued a license to produce or trade.

If you are engaged only in production, then issue a product registration certificate from Rospotrebnadzor (to carry out the mandatory certification procedure). To do this, it is necessary to submit products for examination. These documents are accompanied by a corresponding application and a receipt for payment of the state duty.

If the experts make a positive decision about the compliance of the declared product with existing standards, then you will be issued a certificate of registration (no later than half a month after submitting the application). This certificate can be issued for only one product name.

Tip 4: How to obtain a license for wine and vodka products

Selling wine and vodka products is a profitable investment. Owners of cafes and shops often receive the majority of their profits through the sale of alcohol. To sell alcohol-containing products, you need a special permit - a license.

You will need

• - registration documents;
• - permits;
• - application for a license.

Instructions

To obtain a license to trade wine and vodka products, you must write an application to the licensing authority, providing a whole package of documents.

First of all, prepare originals and copies of the certificate of registration of a legal entity and registration with the tax authority. Constituent documents and their certified copies will also be required when applying for a license.

Pay off debts on all taxes and fees, if any, and receive a certificate of their absence. Do not forget that all certificates issued by government agencies have a limited validity period, so if the remaining documents are not ready yet, you should wait to receive the certificate.

Prepare originals and copies of permits from the sanitary-epidemiological service and fire inspectorate. If you do not have these documents or their validity period is coming to an end, you should contact the relevant authorities to obtain them. The responsible persons of these services will definitely visit the licensing facility to check compliance with its standards, so prepare carefully and put everything in order in accordance with legal requirements.

Make a copy of the cash register registration card and its service agreement.

Prepare a certificate of ownership of the premises in which you operate. If you are not the owner, you will need a lease agreement or another document confirming the right to use the premises.

note

If you have already received a license to sell wine and vodka products, do not forget that it has an expiration date. Working with an expired license is equivalent to carrying out activities without having one, and for this, not only administrative, but also criminal liability can be applied to the entrepreneur. Therefore, it is necessary to take care in time to obtain and renew your alcohol license in a timely manner.

The legislation of the Russian Federation stipulates that trade in products is possible only after obtaining a special permit. This document is most often called a license to sell alcohol.

Instructions

Since individual entrepreneurs cannot sell alcohol, go through the process of registering as a legal entity by choosing the required form of organization. For example, a limited opportunity company (LLC) or a closed joint stock company (CJSC).

Decide in what form the sale of alcoholic beverages will be carried out: “to-go”, as in a store, or “on-site”, as in a cafe.

Collect the necessary documents, which include: - Certificates of registration with the tax authority; - Charter of legal entities (enterprises); - Order appointing you or another person as a manager with the obligatory indication of your last name, first name and patronymic. It is also necessary to attach documents confirming the manager’s assumption of office; - Certificate from the tax accounting authorities confirming the absence of debts; - Extract on the formation of a legal entity from the Unified State Register; - KKM registration card; - Documents confirming ownership of the retail outlet where it will be trade in alcoholic beverages, or a lease (sublease) agreement; - Certificate from the bank on the level of authorized capital. - Rospotrebnadzor conclusion on compliance with sanitary and epidemiological requirements; - Conclusion on compliance with fire safety standards, which can be obtained after an appropriate check at the Ministry of Emergency Situations; - Agreement with the company providing security for the facility; - Premises plan, which should be obtained from the BTI.

It all started with an email sent by 26-year-old Tula resident Pavel Zakharov:

Hello! I don't know where to turn. I live in Tula on Puzakova Street. My father drinks a lot. A year ago, he drank less: he worked until 10 p.m. and didn’t have time to buy himself a drink. But now many supposedly bars have opened that are not shy about openly advertising alcohol; we even have advertising in the elevator! Come and buy it. Why was a law created banning the sale of alcohol before 10 p.m., if buying alcohol has become even easier? Help! How to influence this battle for customers?

With the letter, Pavel also sent a photograph of illegal advertising in the elevator of a residential building:

To begin with, Myslo correspondent Ksenia Panova decided to test for herself different ways of buying alcohol during hours prohibited for the sale of alcohol: via the Internet, in pseudo-bars and from taxi drivers.

Myslo experiment

We decided to start with the simplest thing - alcohol on the Internet. We already raised this topic once, and judging by the prices quoted by sellers, all drinks are “palyonka”. The police and doctors warn about this. Everyone is aware, but this does not interfere with brisk trade. Here is our conversation with sellers six months ago:

Let's check if anything has changed during this time - after all, such trading falls under Article 171.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation- production, acquisition, storage, transportation or sale of unmarked goods and products (punishment - a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles).

22.27. I type on VKontakte the treasured “buy alcohol in Tula at night.”

Dozens of groups open, I go to the first one I come across, and dial the number. Just a couple of rings, and a young man picks up the phone. Next is the following conversation:

Hello! Can I buy cognac or vodka from you?
- Yes, but what did you want?
- A bottle of cognac!
- I can offer you “Lezginochka” for 800 rubles and “Bagration” is still available. Dagestan - 550 rubles.
- Is this real cognac?
- Yes.
- So there are also excise stamps there? Isn't it fake?
- Real cognac, of course.
- Otherwise, you can buy it and poison yourself... Won’t we get poisoned from you?
- Don't get poisoned.
- Do you charge for delivery?
- If you order for 1000, delivery is free, otherwise it’s 150 rubles.
- How soon will you arrive? - I’m interested.
- What is your address?
“Williams, 13,” I call “fake address.”
- Within 25 minutes to half an hour.

I promise to call back and hang up. The ban on the sale of alcohol has been in effect for half an hour already, but this does not stop the online store.

Time 00.00. I get ready and go out into the city, it’s the turn of the alcohol bars.

The first one on the way comes across the GoodWin bar in the area of ​​the regional hospital. A sign glows brightly at night, and a group of young people are having fun in front of the entrance. I go inside: there is a bar counter, orderly rows of bottles and empty tables in the distance, only two of the staff are the salesman and the security guard. I approach the counter:

Why is everything on sale for you? - I'm surprised at the assortment.
“Everything is for sale,” answers the girl behind the counter.
- And strong drinks? Cognac, vodka?
- Yes, sure.
- Do you give it in bottles?
- Yes, but we open it and pour a little bit into a glass.
- And if I take a can of beer, will you open it too?
- I’ll have to, I can’t sell without it.
- How can I get her there then?
“You’d better take it in a bottle with a cork,” the guard immediately helps with advice.

Well, that's good advice. In order not to “glow”, I take a liter of beer, the girl unscrews the cap, pours a millimeter into the glass:

From you 165 rubles.

I pay and go outside. Nobody forces you to drink inside, and “bottling,” which is mandatory under the law on the sale of alcohol at night, is a complete fiction here. Competent circumvention of the law, sellers are not afraid of anything - they even issue cash receipts.

At 01.00 I stop at a gas station and a green “nine” with checkered taxi lines stops behind me. Human rumor has long spread the omniscience of taxi drivers around the world. If you need somewhere to get something, it’s them. A man gets out of the car, and I decide not to miss the opportunity:

Excuse me, are you a taxi driver? - I’ll clarify just in case.
- Yes.
-Can I buy vodka from you?
- Girl, I'm just a taxi driver.
- Well, I know that some taxi drivers carry a supply with them...

The driver takes me by the elbow and leads me to the corner of the gas station.

Do you see “Magnit”? And next to it, GoodWin shines. When you reach a traffic light, turn around. There's vodka, beer, cognac - whatever you want. They just open the bottle, pour you a little, and you pour it back, close it, and that’s it,” the man clearly explains to me.

“I see,” I say, somewhat disappointed, “I just thought that taxi drivers also sell alcohol.”
- Well, there are some, but I don’t recommend them, they’re a mess.
“Thank you,” I thank the kind man and move on.

At 1.30 I arrive at the 24-hour “Spar” on Krasnoarmeysky Avenue. There is nothing to even think about buying alcohol inside - shelves with strong alcohol are lined with carts, and beer displays are covered with banners. In addition, every three meters there is a printout with an excerpt from the legislation banning the sale of alcohol - how can you not notice this?

But at the exit, the entrance to the bar sparkles with lights, and everything is in order with drinks there. It's late, but several tables are occupied. Young people in pairs sip beer from one and a half cups.

Time 2.00. On the way home I stop by the bookmaker's office.

St. Oktyabrskaya

Upon entering I am greeted by a bar counter and a sullen security guard. Two locals are sitting in the gaming room, not looking up from the screens with cards.

Do you have beer?
“Yes, of course, but only draft,” the bartender takes out a plastic glass.
- Is there anything stronger? Vodka, cognac?
- No, but I can pour beer into a liter bottle.

Result: we couldn’t buy alcohol in the supermarket or from the taxi driver (and then, apparently, we were “lucky” by accident - taxi drivers more than once offered to buy strong alcohol from the trunk of our colleagues). There are no problems with this in an alcohol bar or bookmaker's office. If you want to drink after 22.00 - no problem!

Our experiment was commented on by Evgeniy Chernikov, lawyer at Sloboda LLC:

Evgeniy Chernikov

The fact is that the Federal Law of November 22, 1995 No. 171-FZ “On state regulation of the production and turnover of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products and on limiting the consumption (drinking) of alcoholic products,” by prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages at night, does one thing significant exception. This prohibition (as well as some other restrictions) does not apply to persons providing catering services.

In many ways this is logical. At night there are a lot of restaurants, cafes, pubs and nightclubs. Of course, the legislator did not set a goal to make the rest of citizens in nightlife establishments “dry”; this would be strange and would largely distort the very meaning of rest in such places. Moreover, prices for retail alcohol in such places have always been higher than in a regular store.

The task of the legislator is not to prohibit the consumption of alcohol, but to regulate this phenomenon. There is nothing good about drunken groups of young people stocking up at every kiosk at night. But if one or another citizen wanted to have a glass in the evening, then you can go to a bar or restaurant and drink the desired drink. True, at a higher price.

However, some entrepreneurs resorted to a trick. These businessmen open a store selling alcohol and set up a catering establishment there. De jure they open a night cafe, comply with all the requirements for catering establishments, even set up tables and a bar counter. However, in reality they simply operate like a night store, that is, in fact, such entrepreneurs do not plan what customers will drink in their establishment. And all these tables are just a formality. In essence, this is just a loophole in the law.

The legislator, to his credit, is constantly trying to improve the law in order to make life as difficult as possible for such cunning people. For example, Tula Region Law No. 727 prohibits the sale of alcohol at public catering establishments that have less than 6 tables and 24 seats in the service area equipped to serve consumers, or the same enterprise prohibits the sale of alcohol in closed containers without bottling. But, as always, for every ban there is always a clever way to overcome it. For example, precisely in order to circumvent the ban on the sale of alcohol in closed containers, the seller in such a “bar”, when selling a bottle, opens it and pours a little. In fact, there is no difference, except that you lost 20 grams of the drink. Legally, the following picture emerges: a client came to a bar and ordered a bottle. He was given his order, and, as it should be in a bar, they poured a little into a container (for example, into a glass). And then the client decided to leave, and of course, the “bartender” gives him his honestly paid bottle. After all, he has already bought it, and the bartender has no right to retain the client. It seems like casuistry, but everything is actually legally correct.

In my opinion, the only way to combat this is to continue to improve the legislation and look for a way to make it simply unprofitable to create fictitious cafes.

Officially

We learned about what is legal and what is not allowed from Tatyana Lapaeva, Chairman of the Tula Region Committee on Entrepreneurship and the Consumer Market:

Tatyana Lapaeva

All catering establishments that do not have a license for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages do not have the right to operate in residential apartment buildings. A license is issued after a documentary and mandatory on-site inspection, during which the object’s compliance with licensing requirements is assessed.

This ban is aimed at so-called drinking establishments that pose as catering establishments and sell alcohol around the clock.

The distribution of any alcoholic beverages at catering establishments is carried out in portions, that is, on tap, and not in bottles. For violation, fines are provided: officials - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, legal entities - from 50 to 100 thousand rubles. with or without confiscation of alcoholic beverages.

We also conduct joint raids with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tula Region, including on requests from citizens that are received by the regional governor, the government, the Open Region 71 portal, and the hotline.

Only a court can close an establishment or suspend its activities, but if we see that alcoholic beverages are being sold illegally, we remove them from circulation.

Natalya Sevryugina, head of the department for organizing the protection of public order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Tula Region, told us about how the police fight such lawbreakers:

Despite the fact that a fairly large number of offenses are suppressed, the problem of selling alcohol at night certainly exists. Over 10 months, more than 200 cases of such sales were identified. Some businesses, trying to circumvent the restrictions, open pseudo-cafes that can be open at any time.

In total, for general violations - sales at night and for sales without bottling - for 10 months,
604 protocols.

Police officers do not have the right to close an establishment, and citizens often expect this from us. According to the law, you can only draw up a report for an offense for which a fine is imposed and confiscate products that are in illegal circulation, and the decision on confiscation of these products is made by the court.

Regarding online stores: work is being done, but due to gaps in legislation its effectiveness is insufficient. In December, the State Duma will consider a project to block websites that contain information about the illegal sale of alcohol remotely.

About taxi drivers: Most often, private owners do this, and for them the fines are small; accordingly, they bring one or two bottles, the seizure of which is not significant for them in terms of damage.

About responsibility: Article 14.16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of the rules for the sale of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products) provides for liability only of the official and the organization. An official is a person who has any administrative functions. That is, we punish the organization and the director.

Violations in numbers

Data for 10 months of 2014 in the Tula region:

More than 13 million rubles - this amount of fines were issued for violations in the field of sale of alcoholic beverages.

More than 130 protocols were drawn up for trading without a license.

More than 400 reports were drawn up for selling alcohol to minors.

More than 600 protocols were drawn up for violation of trade rules, such as sales at an unspecified time, in a cafe without bottling, without the necessary documentation.

About 1,000 protocols were drawn up for the sale of moonshine or alcohol-containing liquid by citizens.

More than 23 million rubles - this amount was the amount of fines for drinking alcohol and appearing drunk on the street.

All information about violations of the law on the sale of alcohol, identified during the preparation of this material, as well as a letter from our reader Pavel, were transferred to the Tula Region Committee on Entrepreneurship and the Consumer Market. Inspections are being carried out on the work of these establishments.