Having turned into a meme over the past few years for his overly manly image, the latest news about the Russian Federation's president might just make him even more iconic to the Internet: for Vladimir Putin, vodka is such a top economic priority that he's not allowing the drink to raise its prices.
Ever since Russia took over the Ukrainian Crimea Peninsula in the early months of 2014, Western countries like the United States have imposed heavy sanctions, mostly in economic nature, which have caused the country to face a new crisis in the topic of their imports and exports; however, for Vladimir Putin, vodka prices remaining low is still a priority.
According to The Daily Meal, the leader of the Russian government has issued an order where it is stated that, for Putin, vodka prices remaining low is a top priority, as the Russian leader states that high prices of the famous Eastern European distilled beverage ended up encouraging the consumption of other types of alcoholic beverages that could be both illegal and even potentially unsafe.
"The overshoot of vodka prices leads only to increasing consumption of bootleg (liquors)," said Putin in a press release, according to Reuters. "I think the relevant structures (government bodies) should think of that."
Putin has been widely known to promote a more "healthy" lifestyle, though his pushing towards vodka consumption might not be the way towards this, as a 2013 study from local universities points out that a quarter of all Russian men die before reaching old age (at around their mid-fifties), partly due to their love for different spirits, particularly the famously very Russian vodka.
Of course, the reasons for Putin's vodka policy might differ from what he's stating publicly, as many news outlets around the world such as Bloomberg have pointed that this could be part of a strategy to keep the citizenship content during a time of crisis, by at least providing cheap spirits.
However, the views of Putin on vodka prices haven't always been so lenient, as the Russian president has increased around 30 percent of the distilled beverage's government-regulated prices since the last year, according to BBC.
