State Vodka
After few months of deliberation in 1886 Czar Alexander II informed his Chancellor and Finance Minister that he decided to re-introduce state vodka-monopoly. He hoped that this will help cash stripped Imperial Treasury while health benefits for the general population are also important. The bill was designed to improve status of Treasury on one hand and not to destroy private initiative in the same time.
The Government will form the company- State Vodka Monopoly who shall buy from producers, retail and export all vodka in Russia. Private selling or export of vodka will be forbidden. SVM will set standards on vodka quality and will slowly increase the price of vodka. All current companies that produced vodka will have a choice either to sell their entire production to the state or to close the shop. If some vodka destillery tries to sell vodka illegally instead selling entire production to the SVM, it will be nationalised.
Czar and Chancellor agreed that this bill will be sent into Zemsky sobor and Senate within few months while it will become operational in about a year, after necesarry administrative and technical preparations for execution of this law are made. The Czar also decided that he shall not accept any major changes in this law by the Zemski sobor or Senate.