Moscow
New regulations intended to increase government control over alcohol have greatly hampered sales of perfume, hairspray, and other personal products. Under a law that went into effect last month, any product that contains at least 1.5 percent alcohol must be registered in a government database, and all product shipments reported. But because the government agency responsible for the database has yet to set it up, shipments of many personal care products—including skin creams, acne treatments, and hair gels—have been halted. Many store shelves are already empty. “The products are there as long as they last,” said Viktor Kramarenko, spokesman for Procter & Gamble. “Then it’s back to Soviet times. I would stock up now.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The African asylum seekers fighting for Israel in GazaUnder the Radar 'Quid pro quo' recruitment offer condemned as unethical as Israel seeks to address shortage of soldiers
-
Instagram rolls out teen accounts with new limitsSpeed Read After facing pushback over child safety, Meta announced that all users under 18 will have their Instagram accounts modified
-
Arizona official sues to bar 100K from local votingSpeed Read A large number of residents who have not submitted citizenship documents might be prevented from voting in the battleground state's elections
