A Kremlin-backed bill to ban late-night sales of strong beer and hard alcohol at stores and kiosks has been submitted to the government, Vedomosti reported Friday.
The legislation prohibits sales of beverages with more than 5 percent alcohol content from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., except in restaurants and cafes.
Regional authorities will have the right to change the hours of the ban.
The bill was drafted by the Federal Agency for Regulation of the Alcohol Market on a September order from President Dmitry Medvedev.
The government published an anti-alcohol strategy in December that promises to slash national consumption by 15 percent by 2012 and by another 55 percent by 2020.
Official data show that at least 2 million Russians in a population of 142 million are alcoholics, and some 100,000 die every year of alcohol-related causes.
Moscow barred nighttime sales of alcoholic beverages stronger than 15 percent in January 2006, except in restaurants and cafes. But the new legislation imposes a tougher limit aimed at curbing beer consumption, responsible for 70 percent of all alcohol consumed in Russia.
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