LITTLE ROCK — The Czech government made no decision Wednesday on when it would end a nationwide ban on spirits imposed after contaminated beverages killed as many as 26 people.
The worst case of mass alcohol poisoning in 30 years forced the government on Sept. 14 to ban sales of hard liquor.
Ministers in Prague will debate options how to allow sales of newly produced alcohol and some of the 20 million bottles that were locked in stockrooms after the government imposed the ban. More than 30,000 businesses are holding 1.05 million gallons of hard liquor in stock that they aren’t allowed to sell, Czech Premier Petr Necas said Tuesday.
The strictest nationwide liquor ban in 20 years forced bars and stores to lock away bottles from public use. The prohibition hurt liquor makers such as Paris-based Pernod Ricard SA, which owns the Czech liqueur Becherovka, and is costing the government in lost tax revenue.
“We will be looking for solutions that will minimize losses for the hospitality sector,” Necas said. “Our intention will be to synchronize the measures, which means sales of new liquor and freeing a significant part of the locked-up liquor.”
Government officials are debating the implications of lifting the ban. About 70 percent of the alcohol stored in stockrooms is safe, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said on the public Czech Television Tuesday.
“It’s more complicated withthe remaining 30 percent, but that doesn’t mean that all of it is risky,” Kalousek said.
Even if the government decides to ease the ban, the actual freeing up of the locked-up bottles may be postponed for several days, the CTK newswire reported, citing Agriculture Minister Petr Bendl.
Police on Monday said they found the source of methyl-alcohol used to lace beverages and charged two men with public endangerment, with a possible jail sentence of up 20 years. Prosecutors may also seek an “exceptional punishment,” according to state prosecutor Roman Kafka.
The men intentionally provided the mixture of methylalcohol and ethanol in orderto enrich themselves, and the main suspect is a 42-year-old man from the eastern region of Moravskoslezsko, according to Kafka.
Cheaper methyl-alcohol maximizes profits for the producers and distributors, and such spirits are also sold without a government liquor-tax stamp.
Authorities are still searching for about 4,000 gallons of tainted liquor, Police President Martin Cervicek said, warning against the consumption of any spirits of doubtful origin.
The illegal beverages in the country’s worst outbreak of mass alcohol poisoning in three decades were sold in bottles under fake labels from at least two Czech liquor makers, according to police. The poisonous drinks were sold at discounts in bottles labeled as vodka or tuzemak, a local rumlike alcoholic beverage. Several people went blind or fell into coma after consuming it.
“We have a full confession, including the description of the action that took place, including the motivation of this person, including the process of creating the base distribution network,” Kafka said.
The Czech ban is hurting the budget as the state collects about $39 million a month in taxes from hard liquor sales, according to Ladislav Mincic, a deputy finance minister. A longer ban would “complicate” efforts to cut the budget gap, he said on Sept. 16.
Business, Pages 26 on 09/27/2012