By Gina Gomez
Sept 3, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Russians are facing a paradox. The Finance Minister of the country, Alexei Kudrin, has suggested a step that sounds outrageous, to say the least. In a recent press conference, the minister urged the Russians to smoke and drink more, saying that by doing so, they would be helping boost the finances of the country considerably. The proposition comes across as unusual not only because of the health hazards the implementation of the same is bound to result in, but also because Russia is one of the most nicotine-addicted countries in the world. Statistics show that a huge number of deaths result in the country every year due to alcoholism and nicotine addiction.

However, despite statistics that show great sales in the cigarette and alcohol department, especially in vodka, the country does not earn much from them. This is mainly due to the fact that filtered cigarettes are extremely low priced in the country and the unfiltered ones even lower, the duties being the least in the whole of Europe. The government had planned to impose an increased duty on cigarettes and alcohol in July, a move that is not likely to gain much popularity in the country having the highest number of nicotine addicted people.

The finance minister stated that the people in Russia should be smoking and drinking more, saying that by smoking a pack of cigarettes, the average Russian would be contributing a lot to the society, like “boosting demographics, developing other social services and upholding birth rates”. It is understood that more smoking and drinking, coupled with the increased prices, would certainly go a long way toward increasing state income from the tobacco and alcohol industry.