More than 20,000 bottles of Georgian brandy passed through customs procedures in the Moscow region on Thursday and were released onto the market, the customs authorities said.
The brandy was part of the first import of Georgian wine since Russia banned imports from the country in 2006, pointing to quality issues.
Together with the brandy, more than 100,000 bottles of wine also cleared customs.
A total of 1.5 million excise stamps for Georgian alcohol products have been distributed by the customs authorities, Interfax reported.
Gennady Onishenko, who heads the Federal Consumer Protection Service and is well known for left-field comments, said the arrival of Georgian alcohol would bring back warm memories for older people, though the 20,000 bottles "wouldn't even suffice for a decent banquet to celebrate the opening of the border."
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