The production of vodka in Russia has increased year on year by 30 percent in April and 29 percent in May, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday.
The increase has been informally linked to raids carried out by the the Federal Security Service (FSB) and Federal Tax Service in February 2016. The groups raided a number of illegal vodka factories in the Northern Caucasus, closing down their alcohol production line and a tax evasion scheme, Vedomosti reported.
The illegally produced alcohol had accounted for 20 percent of the market, one unnamed manager at an alcohol production facility claimed. The unpaid taxes across the 11 illegal factories amounted to 24 million rubles, ($370,000), Vedomosti reported.
A representative of the Federal Alcohol Market Regulatory Service said that the record-breaking increases were linked to increasingly effective federal controls.
Wholesale and retail alcohol producers have been actively implementing the Unified State Automated Information System (EGAIS) since the beginning of the year for alcohol production tracking and labeling, Vedomosti reported.
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