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Moscow Journal: Russian Beer Law Draws Support, and Some Pessimism

January 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

“It’s not a spirit,” he declared matter-of-factly, standing in the Leningradsky railroad station in Moscow. “It’s a drink that quenches the thirst.”

“With spirits, fine, I agree, put some sanctions on it,” Viktor continued. “There’s beer that they make, which isn’t really beer at all, it’s actually a spirit. But normal beer, good beer, it should not be banned. It’s not right.”

Few subjects prompt keener interest or deeper philosophical rumination in Russia than alcohol, and those that do are invariably discussed over drinks. In Russia, which has one of the world’s highest rates of alcoholism and alcohol-related illness, vodka remains the top choice. But beer is not far behind. The average Russian drinks more than four gallons of alcohol a year.

The new law, which took effect on Jan. 1, aims to reduce those numbers. It bans beer sales from kiosks entirely, and in other stores between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. And as with increased taxes on alcohol in recent years, it aims to curb public drinking, particularly the casual drinking in city parks and snow-covered promenades that can begin before breakfast and end after midnight.

Though technically illegal, drinking in such public spaces is usually tolerated.

As with other weighty subjects that generate fierce debate here — the quality of Moscow theaters; the level of national security; the relative greatness of writers and poets — there are conflicting views on the new law. Even some people whose businesses will suffer said they supported the government’s goals.

“It’s better; maybe people will drink less,” said Natalya Novikova, who works at a kiosk on Tsvetnoy Bulvar in central Moscow, located on a plaza near a subway station. “People in the square relaxed, drank beer, round the clock.”

She added, “After work, they grabbed a beer, and now, well, the government needs people not to drink.”

Industry statistics show that the kiosks, which line streets and typically cluster around subway stations, account for about 30 percent of beer sales. At the kiosk on Tsvetnoy Bulvar, Ms. Novikova said beer was the single most popular item, accounting for nearly $700 in sales a day.

The law is also expected to put at least a small dent in sales for beer manufacturers. Ben Morton, a spokesman for Carlsberg, which is the largest beer-maker in Russia and controls about 40 percent of the market, including the brand Baltika, said that similar restrictions existed in other countries and that the company was well prepared.

“We anticipate some potential short-term disruption,” Mr. Morton said, “but no significant long-term implications.”

Some kiosk owners and managers said it would be difficult to stay in business without beer sales; others said that they would survive but that if similar restrictions were put in place on cigarettes, it would effectively spell the end of such kiosks.

“For business it’s bad, and there are large layoffs for staff,” said Gigla Mebonia, the manager of the Tsvetnoy Bulvar kiosk. “For places like this it is bad, but on the other hand the law is justified for the people to drink less.”

Vitally Kordyukov, 37, who works as a private-car driver and was walking by, said he agreed with the restrictions, even if the effect might be limited. “It’s not very appropriate to drink beer on a bench,” Mr. Kordyukov said. “Of course, people will continue to drink.”

But at the Leningradsky station, where passengers are accustomed to buying a few beers before boarding an overnight train, Yulia Semyonova, 24, and her boyfriend, Kirill Vasko, 26, said the new restrictions were pointless and inconvenient. While kiosks are barred from selling beer, cafes continue to do so, but at higher prices and farther from the train platforms.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/world/europe/russian-beer-law-draws-support-and-some-pessimism.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Global Business Tagged With: , ,

Bucks: Visa Wants U.S. Cards to Catch Up With the World

August 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Visa said on Tuesday that it would take steps to speed up adoption in the United States of credit and debit cards that use secure E.M.V. chips.

The reaction from those of us here at Bucks? “It’s about time!”

Bucks writers and our colleagues at The Times have written often about the problems increasingly faced by Americans using credit cards when traveling abroad. These problems occur because United States credit card companies and merchants continue to use older, less-secure magnetic stripe technology.

In Europe and elsewhere overseas, cards with embedded E.M.V. chips, which are microprocessors that provide heightened security, are becoming the norm, and “mag stripe” cards sometimes don’t work, particularly at unattended kiosks that, for instance, sell train tickets. (E.M.V. stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa.)

While the rest of the world has moved to the chips, the United States has lingered in a chicken-and-egg limbo, with retailers loathe to spend money on new payment systems until card companies adopted the new technology, and card companies reluctant to use the chip cards until merchants agreed to accept them.

Now, Visa says that accelerating a switch to E.M.V. technology in the United States will not only enhance security when credit and debit cards are used, but also will help prepare for increased use of mobile systems that let shoppers pay by waving their cellphones at a payment terminal. (Systems that let shoppers pay with their phones use E.M.V. chips, too).

Visa’s plan offers financial incentives for retailers to upgrade their payment systems voluntarily while card issuers make the transition to the chip cards. The new systems will be able to process payments from multiple methods during the transition period, including cards with magnetic stripes and E.M.V. chips, as well as mobile systems using smartphones. The overall changeover is likely to take five to six years.

Visa’s announcement comes as some banks are starting to offer E.M.V.-enabled credit cards, mainly for affluent customers who travel internationally. A few credit unions have been offering the cards too. Further, some large merchants are backing the new technology: the McDonald’s Corporation has deployed chip-capable terminals in the United States, and Nordstrom has voiced support as well.

Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the SmartCard Alliance, said in an e-mail that Visa’s move was the “ignition point” that was needed to spark a migration to the technology in the United States, because merchants have been waiting for a road map from card companies as to what technologies to invest in. “Now that Visa has signaled that the future will include contact chips and mobile contactless payments,” he wrote, “they know what the next generation of payments will look like.”

In an e-mail, the MasterCard spokesman Seth Eisen said that “To date, consumer demand and market economics have not justified a migration in the U.S. We are helping our customers understand what the implications of E.M.V. and other technologies in the U.S. would be.  Any migration must take into account all customer and consumer interests if a collective effort is to be successful. Obviously, Visa’s decision will impact market direction and we will continue to consider our actions accordingly.”

American Express hadn’t provided a statement by post time.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=f57f67ab70e562acf47fb0181695fd62

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Government Will Try to End Worker Strike at Air Canada

June 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The minister, Lisa Raitt, said in an interview that a prolonged strike at Air Canada, which has about 56 percent of the domestic air travel market, would impair Canada’s economy.

“As time goes by there will be a critical mass point where service will fall apart,” she said, adding that any legislation was unlikely to clear Parliament until the middle of next week at the earliest.

The airline moved swiftly to replace the 3,800 workers who went on strike early Tuesday morning. Those on strike are members of the Canadian Auto Workers union, and they were replaced by about 1,700 managers. The Toronto Star also reported that guards, not in uniform, from a private security firm were brought in to assist travelers with electronic check-in kiosks at airports.

Although Air Canada said that it would continue to offer all scheduled flights, airline officials made it clear that it would not be travel as usual.

In an online video for customers, Duncan Dee, Air Canada’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, encouraged travelers to check in online because “we expect long lineups at our kiosks.” He added, “We advise strongly against checking baggage in.”

There were some flight cancellations and delays on Tuesday, particularly during the morning flight rush, but it was not clear if they were related to the strike or other factors.

Negotiations between Air Canada and the union collapsed late Monday night over pension issues, Ken Lewenza, the president of the autoworkers’ union, said in an interview.

“Air Canada put a line in the sand and said these were the issues that were show-stoppers,” Mr. Lewenza said from Toronto. After meeting with a conciliator appointed by the federal government on Tuesday morning, Mr. Lewenza said that it was unlikely the talks would soon restart.

Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment.

Air Canada’s only nationwide competitor in the domestic market is WestJet, a low-cost carrier based in Alberta. But WestJet does not fly beyond the United States and the Caribbean, making Air Canada the country’s only full-service airline with overseas routes.

Air Canada is in negotiations with four other unions and locals, representing the balance of its work force of about 26,000. Last month, its pilots rejected a tentative contract with the airline. None of the other unions is in an immediate strike position under Canadian law.

Chris Murray, an analyst with PI Financial in Toronto, said that a pension shortfall of about 2.1 billion Canadian dollars was at the center of those negotiations. The federal government will require the carrier to eliminate that deficit over five years beginning in 2014.

“The problem is that when it comes time to write the check for that you need cash,” Mr. Murray said. Paying off the current shortfall will cut the marginally profitable airline’s cash flow by about 400 million Canadian dollars a year.

That amount, Mr. Murray said, may make it difficult for Air Canada to finance a planned purchase of Boeing 787 airliners.

Mr. Lewenza said that Air Canada was seeking to change a number of rules involving current employees’ benefits, particularly those governing when they would be able to collect a pension. The airline also wants to put future employees into a separate, less generous pension plan, he said.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/global/15air.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Global Business Tagged With: , ,