Some 320 companies had their licenses revoked in early June following non-compliance with a law requiring all producers of alcohol to install automated alcohol meters by May 1, the source said.
He said that most of the suspended businesses were small or medium-sized companies, with a combined output accounting for just 10% of the nation's total sales, so their temporary suspension had not caused any major supply shortages.
The provision is part of new alcohol production and distribution regulations introduced by the Russian government to prevent bootleg wines and spirits entering the market.
Industry analysts said the failure to comply with the new regulations resulted from a widespread belief that the newly introduced federal alcohol control system, known as EGAIS, would not work.
The tax authorities planned to start loading data from producers' automated alcohol meters into EGAIS on February 1, 2007, but the government conceded in January that EGAIS was not operating properly, and moved the startup date to November 1, 2007, setting a deadline of May 1 for the installation of automated meters.
Last year, the Russian government ordered that all alcohol retailers and distributors sell alcohol with new excise tax markers, but failed to start up EGAIS as planned and to print enough markers, causing severe shortages of alcohol on the consumer market.
