Levintova and a number of other other academics including Mark Schrad said that alcohol in post-Soviet countries has been a “statecraft”. It was even encouraged as alcohol production was a very profitable industry for the Soviet government, according the Marya Levintova, a public health expert on Russia. In the Soviet Union, little was done to curb excessive drinking. The “cult of wine is strong”, says Penina. The wine-drinking culture sets Moldova and Georgia apart from other post-Soviet countries, where people prefer to drink spirits. “Every family has a person with a drinking problem,” says Tudor Vasiliev, a psychiatrist specializing in addiction and a coordinator of the National Alcohol Control Program.Īccurate figures for Moldova are hard to reach because up to 70% of alcohol consumed is homemade wine, says Olga Penina, a lecturer of Public Health at Chisinau’s State University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Following closely is Lithuania with 15 liters and the Czech Republic with 14.4, while Europe’s average is 9.8. The latest 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) data found that people over the age of 15 drink on average 15.2 liters of pure alcohol (including alcohol made at home or illegally) per capita each year, the equivalent of around 167 bottles of wine. ![]() One in four deaths are related to alcohol while the world’s average is one in 20. Moldova has the highest levels of alcohol consumption in the world and the highest death rate linked to drinking. But the country is dependent on alcohol in many more ways than one. The wine industry employs almost a tenth of the national workforce and income generated from viticulture forms 15% of the national annual budget. Puhoi is no different to many other villages in this Eastern European country that borders Romania and Ukraine. “You’re not a person if you don’t drink,” says Nicolae Rusu, a 35-year-old construction worker, who says he used to make 300 liters of his own wine each year. Alcohol is currency, used to pay people for small jobs and favors. ![]() Almost everybody works for the local Asconi winery, and almost everyone distills their own wine. In Puhoi, alcohol is the lifeblood of the economy and the community.
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