Beer-guzzling football fans risk drinking parts of Moscow dry, with some bars and restaurants in the Russian capital saying they are running low and having to wait longer than usual for fresh supplies.
Moscow has been transformed by the World
Cup, with singing, chanting and beer-swilling fans overwhelming some of the
packed bars and restaurants around the Kremlin and Red Square.
“We just didn’t think they would
only want beer,” said one waiter at a upscale eatery in central Moscow who
asked not to be identified for fear of scaring off future customers.
The waiter said his restaurant ran out of
draft lager on Monday and deliveries are taking longer than usual, at least 24
hours, because suppliers’ stocks are also running low.
“There are really a lot of people in
Moscow … and they are all drinking,” he said. “It’s hot, and it’s
football.”
Beer sales in Russia have fallen by around a third
over the past as duties have risen and rules been tightened on sales and
advertising. Brewers had not been expecting a major reversal of the trend this
year. Baltika, the Russian unit of Carlsberg, said although there was an
increased risk of supply disruption during the World Cup, its business had not
been affected. Heineken said sales were so far going well and it did not yet
see any challenges supplying its beer. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s
biggest brewer and an official FIFA sponsor for the World Cup, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
