Alcohol sale ban hits kiosks

Kiosk owners all over the country this week were bemoaning the loss of their main source of income now that a law that bans kiosk beer sales has come into force.

As of Sept. 1, beer, cider and other light alcoholic beverages can no longer be sold at Estonian kiosks - the small, roadside convenience stands that typically also sell newspapers, cigarettes, candy and other items.

The government said the law was aimed at making it tougher for underage Estonians to buy beer. Liquor stores are still allowed to sell beer, wine and spirits through the night, but cashiers may ask customers to provide ID proving they are old enough to buy booze.

Estonians must be 18 to buy beer, wine and cider and 21 to buy hard alcohol such as vodka or whiskey. Kiosks that defy the beer ban or liquor stores that sell to underage customers can face up to 50,000 kroons (3,200 euros) in fines.

But kiosk owners said they stood to lose millions of kroons without beer on the shelves.

"People who are used to going to kiosks to buy beer will now go to a shop to buy everything at once," said Kalvar Kase, managing director of Estonia's largest kiosk chain Lehti-Maja Eesti.

The company, which operates 200 kiosks around the country, expects to lose at least 5 million kroons per year.

Tsenter Ltd., which owns 40 kiosks, said it would have to close up to half because of the beer ban.

"Until now we managed to keep a positive balance of profits and costs, but this ban would make a lot of our kiosks unprofitable," said Tsenter director Lev Meercon.

In Tallinn alone there are 399 kiosks providing jobs for about 1,500 people, according to Tallinn's business development department.

To get around the ban, some kiosks that are connected to free-standing buildings are trying to register themselves as shops, which are still allowed to sell beer, wine and spirits 24 hours a day.

According to city zoning laws, kiosks are defined as free standing booths.

"A kiosk is a temporary building, easy to move, and it does not need an occupancy permit," said Kairi Teniste, director of the city's business development department.

Margus Suik, head of the Economy Ministry's retail trade department, said the law was meant to make alcohol less available for minors and increase transparency of alcohol sales, export and production.

"It is especially essential to limit kids' access to alcohol," he said.

Alcohol sale had been curtailed in several Estonian towns by local authorities after last year's methanol poisoning tragedy in which 44 people died after consuming bootleg vodka tained with poisonous methyl alcohol.

In Haapsalu, alcohol is not sold between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Parnu, Juressaare and Tartu introduced even stricter laws that forbid all alcohol sales at night.

But Tonis Tulp, a consumer protection specialist in the northeastern town of Viljandi, said it was hard to say whether a similar ban had made Viljandi a better place.

"Nobody has carried out any survey on that. But I personally can say that nothing has changed. I still see drunk people every night," he said.

Tulp added that although the kiosk ban would make it harder for teenagers to buy beer, it would never stop people who really wanted to get drunk at any time of the day.

Several kiosks will continue selling inexpensive perfumes, which are sometimes used by alcoholics as an alternative to liquor for their high alcohol content.