BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/11/2006

Belarus keeps off surrogate alcohol from Russia - Lukashenko

BOBRUISK, November 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarus has managed to prevent surrogate alcohol shipments from Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.

"We have managed to stop large-scale shipments of this trash and save people," he said. Plenty of trucks carrying fake vodka are stopped on the border. "I have ordered strict control over attempts to make such exports," he said.

Several dozens of Belarussian citizens were taken to hospital with inferior alcohol poisoning, Lukashenko said.

Belarus has a governmental monopoly on the production and distribution of alcohol. In the past Belarus started to exercise strict control over the deliveries of Russian beer, Lukashenko said. "Russian budget revenues have enlarged a lot thanks to that," he said.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10994686&PageNum=0