Want A Soda? In Crimea You'll Need A Passport For That

One of the largest retailers in the peninsula now demands passports before selling sodas to customers

To buy a Coke, Pepsi or local caffeinated beverages at Crimea’s most popular retail chains customers will now need to display their passport as well as their cash. And minors won’t be able to buy them at all, according to reports that began circulating this week in Russian media.

The restrictions impact Coca-Cola, RC Cola, Pepsi, the Georgian beverage Tarhun, the Ukrainian drink Obolon and Russia’s Baikal Cola. The crackdown is part of a new law prohibiting banning the sale of alcoholic beverages to anyone under 18 years of age. According to the new law, beverages that have more than 0.151 mg/cubic meter of caffeine fall under the category of alcoholic beverages.

Сначала я думал, что это прикол, а они серьезно туристам в Крыму кока-колу по паспортам продают. Туристам, Баррак! https://t.co/C2y76IGWAS

— укропский фотошоп (@hypertonic_) August 10, 2015

Translation: “At first, I thought it was a joke, but they are actually selling Coca-Cola to tourists in Crimea and demanding they show passports. To tourists!”

Окуели совсем, чтоб купить энергетик или колу требуют паспорт. http://t.co/C8nCgdjJ9n

— Garri (@garrirud) August 11, 2015

Translation: They completely lost their minds. To buy an energy drink or Coca-Cola they are now demanding a passport.”

A similar situation arose in Moscow earlier this year when several shops in the capital began demanding customers show their passports when buying Coca-Cola.

@nytimes Did You know that in the Russia Coca-Cola sold only to people who have a passport??this Russian world! https://t.co/ESNsgwmBXH

— vision of nation (@visionofnation) August 11, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014. Last week his government destroyed Western imported meat and cheese as part of a protest against EU sanctions for his intervention in Ukraine.

By Vladi Vovcuk