The Russian Cabinet of Ministers approved an increase in excise tax on sugary drinks to 10 rubles

The Russian government approved a bill at a meeting on Thursday to increase the excise tax on sugar-containing drinks from 7 to 10 rubles per liter, a source in the Cabinet told TASS. The document will be submitted to the State Duma. The excise tax will not apply to juices, nectars, fruit drinks, syrups, milk, dairy products, jelly and plant-based drinks that are popular with the population. As Elena Petryaykina, director of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital of the Russian Ministry of Health, chief pediatric endocrinologist of the Central Federal District of the Russian Ministry of Health and the Moscow Department of Health, explained to TASS, regular consumption of sugary drinks leads to excess weight gain, including obesity. At the same time, such drinks are easy to find and purchase, "manufacturers often use brightly colored packaging, which especially attracts the attention of children." "However, not only will drinking such drinks not bring any benefit to the child's ...