Moonshine Production So Widespread and Costing Moscow So Much Money that Russian Government is Using Satellites to Track It

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 3 – The Russian interior ministry is now using satellites to identify where illegal alcohol – what the Russians call samogon – is being produced in the hopes of closing down such production so that those who want to drink will have to consume registered and highly taxed alcoholic beverages.
    Even before the start of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine, such illegal alcohol constituted roughly a third of the total market; and the fact that it was not taxed cost the state as much as 80 billion rubles (800 million US dollars) every year. Since that time, Moscow has raised taxes on alcohol, more Russians have turned to illegal sources, and the government’s losses have soared.
    In the hopes of clawing back that money so that it can go for spending on Putin’s campaign in Ukraine, the finance ministry has announced that the interior ministry will now be using satellites to try to identify where such samogon is being produced (pnp.ru/social/za-palenoy-vodkoy-nachali-sledit-iz-kosmosa.html).