You're reading: Poll: Most Ukrainians think alcohol sales ban in kiosks lobbied for by big trade networks

Only 12% of beer buyers think a ban on selling alcoholic drinks and beer in kiosks would be prompted by genuine concern for their health, according to the findings of the poll made by the Social Indicators center.

The poll shows that the main time for buying beer in the kiosks is from 1800 until 2200. Seventy-seven percent of people mostly people up to the age of 40 (83%), buy beer between these times, including people from 18 to 29 years old (59%), and people from 30 to 39 years old (24%).

The majority of the public (60% of those polled) opposes a ban on buying alcoholic drinks in kiosks. Thirty-seven percent of consumers support the ban.

At the same time, in the case of there being temporary restrictions in the city, the number of supporters of the ban falls by 29% and the number of opponents increases by 69%.

A majority, or 65%, thinks that a ban on selling alcoholic drinks near educational establishments will not resolve the problem of alcohol consumption by juveniles.

Forty-eight percent of respondents say that it is connected with the absence of organized alternative kinds of recreation, prestige and peer pressure to consume alcoholic drinks.

Half of the respondents, 50%, consider the consumption of beer and other alcoholic drinks by juveniles to be of a social character, motivated by their desire to appear grown-up, while 48% say they are encouraged to consume alcohol by friends.

Most of those polled are not going to change their behavior because of the ban on the sale of alcohol drinks in kiosks: 70% of the public think that the level of their alcohol consumption will remain the same, 14% think that their consumption will fall, and about 10% say the imposition of such a ban would increase their consumption of alcohol drinks.

The majority of respondents (67%) are concerned that the ban will cause more illegal sales of alcoholic drinks, and 66% of those polled think that the production of counterfeit alcohol, liqueurs and other alcoholic drinks will rise.

The majority of consumers (57%) say the ban is being considered due to pressure gtom big trade networks, 26% tend to think it is an attempt of government to gain the confidence and support of the public, while 23% say the proposed ban reflects the absence of a real desire to resolve the problem. Just 12% of the respondents believe that the proposed ban reflects genuine concern for the health of the citizens.

The poll was conducted from July 11 to July 15 with the assistance of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology among adults (older than 18), and was devoted to the studying the consequences of a law banning the sale of alcohol and beer in kiosks and its influence on reducing alcohol abuse.

By means of street interviews, 1,224 respondents who are consumers of beer and alcoholic drinks were polled in ten cities (Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Odesa, Luhansk, Rivne, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk). The poll’s margin of error is 2.8%.