175, 000 litres of counterfeit alcoholic products seized in Tatarstan since the beginning of the year

On December 16, at a briefing at Tatarstan Cabinet of Ministers, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the republic Rafail Gilmanov reported that 175, 000 litres of counterfeit alcoholic products have been seized in Tatarstan since the beginning of the year. Of them 44, 000 litres have been brought from Kazakhstan and 51, 000 – from North Ossetia.

Head of State Alcohol Inspectorate in the Republic of Tatarstan Igor Marchenko, who took part in the briefing, said that due to the state programme aimed at reducing alcohol consumption by population and prevention of alcoholism there has been a slowdown in legal sales of alcoholic products over the last years in Russia. However, it was noted that people have not decreased alcohol consumption, and the main reason of slowdown in retail alcohol market is the decrease of illegal alcohol sales.

According to Rafail Gilmanov, employees of the Interior Ministry conducted 30,000 inspections. As of November 2014, 111 crimes have been revealed, 101 offenders have been brought to trial. The total amount of imposed fines made 10 million roubles.

By the initiative of Tatarstan State Alcohol Inspectorate, CEOs of the social network “VKontakte” blocked 150 groups that were selling alcohol in Tatarstan.

Due to joint efforts of State Alcohol Inspectorate and prosecution authorities, judgments about blocking other 147 websites have been pronounced.

In accordance with Tatarstan President’s order, a month’s campaign for revealing illegal alcohol sales has been held in the republic since the beginning of December.