Chechnya's shopkeepers have chosen to give up their alcohol licenses after a meeting with the head of the Chechen parliament, the Kavkaz.Reali news site reported Wednesday.
Fourteen shops in the Muslim-majority republic had been given state permission to sell alcohol between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
All of the businesses handed in their licenses after the meeting, which had been called to address a drunk driving accident, said Magomed Mustafinov, a representative from the Chechen Republic's Economic Development Ministry.
After the meeting, the owners gave up their licenses to sell alcohol products. The Chechen government is offering shopkeepers support to help them realign their businesses after the change, Mustafinov said.
Seven people died in the accident on Nov. 28, when Chechen man Alam Khodzaev drove his car into oncoming traffic. Local media reports have claimed that some of Khodzaev's male relatives had since fled the republic out of fears of a blood feud.
