‘Chelyabinsk Region market mainly gets strong drinks from the North Caucasus (Beslan and Vladikavkaz), Saint Petersburg, and Chelyabinsk. The latter has two companies that deal in producing non-refined spirit (Veles Ltd. and Alexandra Ltd.). So far, 99% of the recent poisonings have been caused by the juniper-flavored drink produced by these two manufacturers (as far as the label claims),’ Head of Chelyabinsk Region Department of RosPotrebNadzor (a consumer rights surveillance service) Anatoliy Semenov announced at the press conference.

‘However, the investigation of the poisonings revealed that the drinks produced by Veles Ltd. and Alexandra Ltd. (in 100-ml bottles sold at 40 RUR) enjoyed no demand and were left upon the shelves, whereas the market had been flooded with counterfeited 250-ml bottles sold at 18 to 22 RUR yet with the corporate labels. The activity of the illegal producers has finally resulted in the closing down of the legal businesses. They have been idle for two or three months already; in the meantime, the cheap surrogate is available on the market,’ Mr Semenov said.

‘All the documents have been sent to the law-enforcement bodies who will now have to identify the offenders. Our region has become Russia’s seven victim,’ he noted.

Mr Semenov also reported that the counterfeited drink had been launched about three weeks before and led to serious poisonings, including some deaths.