Absolut Recession

Written by DJ Spiess

Monday, 24 November 2008

First the Germans lost their taste for beer and then Budweiser became a Belgian company. Now the Russians are not buying Vodka. The apocalypse trifecta is complete.

Absolut-ly Sober

If there wasn’t enough doom and gloom in the news today with the collapse of the global financial markets, apparently the Russians are cutting back on vodka - so much for a recession proof industry. You’d think after your economy lost 70% of it value you’d need a drink.

The spirit manufactures have 8.2 million deciliters of vodka on hand, roughly six times the inventory they had a year ago. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing cheap vodka on the shelves in other countries. The national beverage is not selling because Russians need to cut back on spending. They want their vodka, they just can’t afford it.

Absolut Black Market

Of course this isn’t stopping the Russians from getting a drink. Some have resorted to black market vodka, which has produced an increase in poisonings. The homebrew vodka sells dirt cheap, and can give the consumer liver failure, jaundice, and toxic hepatitis in addition to the desired drunken stupor. Kinda makes Boone’s Farm look good.

Vodka accounts for 70% of all alcohol sales in Russia. Some vodkas come in a half liter plastic bottle and sell for 50 roubles ($1.80 USD). For those not willing to part with the 50 roubles, there are other options like perfume, cough syrup, and cleaning supplies. Alcohol poisonings were down since 2006, but rose six percent in September.

Russians drink vodka like we drink beer (courtesy wikipedia.com)

(Source: reuters.com)

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