Heavy-drinking Russians going for alcohol-free beer

Moscow

RUSSIANS are among the biggest drinkers of alcohol in the world, yet are developing a new taste for alcohol-free beer, which could help save a brewing industry that has stalled under government initiatives to discourage drinking.

Sales of zero-alcohol beer jumped 12 per cent last year even as the broader Russian market shrank by 2 per cent, according to research firm Nielsen, extending a 40 per cent slide in beer sales since the government tightened regulations in 2008.

Anheuser Busch InBev plans to promote the alcohol-free version of its Bud brand as a sponsor of soccer's…