No one likes to be a scrooge during this season of joyful inebriation. But the folks at the Statistics Committee have reason to be wary this New Year's eve, what with the cold hard facts staring them in the face.


The final statistics for 1994 are not in yet, but all indicators point to another dramatic increase this year in the number of alcohol poisonings.


In a country of heavy drinkers -- the heaviest in the world, according to Izvestia -- alcohol poisoning and resulting deaths are to be expected. But at the rates the figures are jumping -- up approximately 60 percent for the past two years -- reaching for that bottle of vodka is becoming a riskier pastime.


Just take Karelia, where alcoholic poisoning in the republic shot up by 219 percent in one year. Daunting figures indeed on the eve of the biggest vodka bash of the year, when a good time is measured by the number of empty vodka bottles on the floor.


These figures also include cases of accidental death, such as the occasional drunk passing out in the snow and freezing to death, or alcohol-induced murders. But thetrend upward is not due to the increase in barroom brawls, but to the quality of the stuff in the bottle.


"The vast majority of the deaths are caused by the poor quality of the alcohol," said a spokesman from the Statistics Committee, blaming bootleggers and kiosks for passing off poison. Often kiosks sell synthetic alcohol that is not intended for consumption, but label it as such. "Just because it says it is drinkable, it may not be true," said the spokesman.


The news is not all bad for Moscow dwellers. The capital city fares much better than other regions when it comes to cases of alcohol poisoning. But it still wouldn't hurt to know thy bottle before you raise that toast to your lips New Year's Eve.