Delivering cheaper cheer to Finnish drinkers

Alkotaxi-finlandIt is commonly agreed and fairly well known that Finland has a drinking problem. Alcoholism is one of this Nordic country’s most pressing social issues, and something the government has been determinedly trying to solve.

The appearance of a new mobile business that sells alcohol door-to-door, however, is not likely to help the situation. Over the past few weeks, a bright yellow van has been delivering Estonian hooch to Finnish customers’ homes. Aptly calling itself Alkotaxi, the innovative company takes orders for cheap Estonian alcohol online and then delivers them to the customer.

Finnish health authorities are far from happy about it, reports SIKUnews, and have opened an investigation into the legality of the business. Although Alkotaxi has only been open a short while, it has already delivered to more than 50 customers, mostly in Helsinki.

Vasili Visnapuu is the man in charge of driving the yellow van and delivering the booze. He told the YLE news service that the business is completely legitimate because the imported alcohol is delivered for free and the money transfer is handled through the Internet.

“It would be illegal to import alcohol for sale in Finland. The purchase is actually made in Estonia, we simply don’t charge for delivery,” said Visnapuu. Kari Paaso of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health admits “the law is quite unclear on this issue, which is why the parliamentary ombudsman has requested an inquiry on the matter.”

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