Local authorities have introduced such bans, but legislative gaps allowed these decisions to be overruled in courts.

Open source

On Thursday, 22 March, the Parliament of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted a bill granting local authorities the right to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages at night and allowing them to fine businesses found violating the ban, UNIAN reports.

While presenting the bill prior to the vote, a member of the “Narodny Front” faction, Ihor Vasiunyk, reminded some 40,000 Ukrainians die annually due to alcohol.

According to the World Health Organization, Ukraine is ranked 6th globally in terms of alcohol consumption. The nation is also exhibiting rather poor tendencies in alcohol consumption among teenagers and adolescents – over 83% of young Ukrainians admit to having drunk alcohol. Almost 35% of the teenagers polled argued it was “easy” or “very easy” to purchase alcoholic beverages.

Ihor Vasiunyk argues this is the reason to introduce restriсtions on the sale of alcoholic drinks in Ukraine. “Restrictions and bans that are in place now are insufficient. Local authorities have already introduced a ban on liquor sales at night, but due to legislative gaps, the relevant decisions of local councils were often overruled in court,” he said.