Russians have always had a reputation for heavy drinking. However, is vodka becoming, quite literally, their poison.

The government has estimated that around 43,000 people have died so far this year from consuming illegal alcohol. Officials say the problem has trebled in the last three years.

Boris Tereshenko, the Head of the Interior Ministry's Economic Crimes Department, announced that only half the bottles of vodka produced in Russia are now made illegally, an improvement of 20% since 1995.

The illegal booze, often concocted and bottled at home, is made from non-drinkable industrial ethyl or the deadly methyl alcohol.

Official figures show that the average Russian consumes about half a half-litre bottle of vodka a day.

Recent research found that alcohol abuse was a main cause of a dramatic drop in the life expectancy of Russian men. The average age is just 58.

Boris Yeltsin - roadside spirits ban

Health aside, the government is also concerned that it is missing out on valuable revenue.

An estimated 1 trillion roubles ($168,8 million) in alcohol taxes goes uncollected each year as a result of the thriving bootleg alcohol trade.

Earlier this year, Boris Yeltsin banned the sale of spirits from roadside kiosks as part of an attempt to regulate the producers of illegal low-quality vodka - to little effect.

However, fake liquor seized by officials does not go to waste. It is processed into brake fluid and windscreen cleaner.

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