Citizens urged to drink and smoke more !
A refreshing approach in today's health obsessed world :O)
Russia's finance minister has urged his countrymen and women to support the country - by drinking and smoking more.
Alexei Kudrin called for increased consumption of tobacco and alcohol in a bid to boost the state's revenues, reports Metro.
"If you smoke a pack of cigarettes, that means you are giving more to help solve social problems," commented Kudrin.
"People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state."
Russia, noted for its high consumptions of both cigarettes and alcohol, has among the lowest duties on cigarettes in Europe.
In June, plans to double the excise duty on cigarettes from 250 roubles, roughly £5 per 1,000 cigarettes, to 590 roubles (£12.49) by 2013 were outlined.
The comments by the minister seem to contradict recent government moves to control Russia's excessive nature and improve its life expectancy rates.
Source: Ananova
It's all to do with generating revenue for the exchequer.. The citizens come second :o(
Every country is promoting sale of liquor and tobacco, what's the big deal.
Hope they have enough health care team to care for these people..
I wonder if the Russians put Health warnings on the packaging...
haha... now tht sounds funny
Yeah, may be it will solve overpopulation problem as well by increasing death rate for the country.
Why can't we have leaders like these ?
just asking!
The people who smokes and drinks never become old
They die young.
Russia Govt. knows it. They need not pay old age pension
what a call! LOL
and afterwards they will pay for health benefits of their people? i can't believe they're actually asking their people to do that!
Breaking Traffic Laws & then paying hefty fines can also be quite useful for the economy.
Love it when a country puts their people first!!
This reminds me Putin's comments on global warming "We could spend less on coats"
well the guy is naive, the one who posted the ad as well as the minister.
why don't you post in classifieds..