More than half of Moscow's stores and restaurants could lose their liquor licenses by the end of the year, Alexei Nemeryuk, head of the city's trade and services department, said Friday.
Of all of the capital's watering holes, restaurants, supermarkets and corner stores, 57 percent have yet to submit documents indicating their alcohol turnover, Nemeryuk was quoted as saying by Interfax.
"Today only 43 percent of our license holders have submitted their declarations, although they have had enough time — 18 days — to prepare all materials for submission to the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation," he said.
If the declarations are not submitted by Monday, the offending establishments' liquor licenses will be frozen.
The alcohol regulator will then turn to the courts, seeking formal orders of annulment against each establishment. The annulment process could take an average of two to three months.
"If the current trend of declaration submission remains the same, we have all the premises for annulling [these establishments'] licenses," Nemeryuk said.
