Russian production of vodka and liquors in January-February 2007 up 150% from the first two months of 2006, the National Alcohol Association (NAA) said.
Popularity: 4% [?]
March 19, 2007
The billionaire Russian entrepreneur behind Russia’s biggest vodka maker has paid $3 million to acquire the vodka.com domain, part of a bid to expand into the U.S. market, Reuters news agency reports
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December 15, 2006A priest and his family were killed on the weekend in an arson attack on their home in a Central Russian region.
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December 4, 2006Two people have died after being poisoned by counterfeit alcohol in the Irkutsk region over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from alcohol poisoning in the area to 60.
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November 10, 2006For the period from January to September 2006 about 17.000 people died from bootleg alcohol poisoning, according to the official statement of State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov.
Alcohol poisoning cases are regularly reported in regions throughout Russia. Bootleg alcohol poisoning claims thousands of lives in Russia every year and the year of 2006 is no exception.
After a number of cases in which vodka bottles contained detergents and other hazardousl chemicals Russia’s consumer rights watchdog launched investigations into cases of mass alcohol poisoning.
Boris Gryzlov spoke for a state monopoly on alcohol sale. “It’s time to raise the issue of a state monopoly on alcohol sales,†he said.
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October 31, 2006Russia’s Health and Social Development Ministry said today that about 40,000 people die annually from alcohol poisoning in the country, Radio Free Europe reports.
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October 27, 2006A Russian region has imposed a state of emergency after more than 400 people were taken to hospital and 15 died as a result of drinking tainted alcohol, the Reuters news agency reports.
The state of emergency was declared in the Pskov region, about 700 km (435 miles) west of Moscow, but other regions across the country also reported mass outbreaks of alcohol poisoning with dozens of deaths.
Public health officials who seized alcohol on sale in the Pskov region found it contained substances usually used in medicines, Channel One television said.
The substances react dangerously when mixed with alcohol, it said. The first cases of alcohol poisoning were reported three weeks ago. Many of the people who needed medical help are suffering from liver problems.
Prosecutors in Pskov region, which is on Russia’s border with Latvia, have opened a criminal investigation for selling food products unfit for human consumption, the channel said.
Russia’s is the world’s biggest consumer of vodka, but its penchant for the drink causes major health problems.
Thousands of people died each year from the effects of excessive drinking. Bootleg vodka —- which can often contain methylated spirits and other substances to boost its alcohol content —- is especially deadly.
In cases of alcohol poisoning elsewhere in Russia, 18 people have died in the Irkutsk region of Siberia in the past few days and 70 people are being taken to hospital with the symptoms every day, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
In the Ural mountains town of Kirov, 21 people have died from acute toxic hepatitis brought on by drinking tainted alcohol, Interfax news agency reported.
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Russia has opened a vodka museum with more than 50,000 bottles of the national drink on display, Ananova reports.
The Moscow museum showcases many special versions of the drink, including some bottles produced more than two centuries ago.
There is also a collector’s edition made to commemorate those who died on the K-19 submarine and a hall dedicated to how Russians dealt with the difficult years of the USSR with hard drinking.
Boss Alexander Nikishin also offers visitors 10 different types of the national Russian drink to taste, and promises none of them are from illegal stills.
Every year hundreds of Russians die while drinking illegal distilled vodka sold on the black market.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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