Russia’s leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev rolled back the years Tuesday as they took a round of May Day drinks in a Moscow pub popular for beer-drinking since Soviet times. The Zhiguli pub just off the central Arbat street is a Moscow institution, known for its cheap and plentiful supplies of beer on tap and copious portions of greasy stomach-lining food. “I’d never been here before,” admitted outgoing president Medvedev as he entered the pub with president-elect Putin after they jointly led the biggest May Day celebrations in Moscow for years. “The one thing that is really different from before (in Soviet times) is that there are many different kinds of beer. Then, there was just one,” said Medvedev, apparently fascinated by the array of beers on offer. After ordering their beers they then went to the self-service counter to take their plates of food — Putin went for boiled potatoes with cod and Medvedev for fried potatoes and lamb sausage. Joined by a handful of MPs and trade union leaders, state television showed them toasting May Day with mugs of beer at a table laden with traditional Russian salty snacks beloved by beer drinkers across the country.
