A Russian company is marketing new "Ladies" vodka strictly to appeal to women, but experts worry that the product will only make the nation's rampant alcohol problems worse, Reuters reported March 17.

Ads for Damskaya vodka show a violet bottle wrapped in a skirt that blows up to reveal the label, with a tagline reading, "Between us girls..." The premium vodka comes in lime, vanilla, and almond flavors and claims to be free of byproducts like fusel oils that can cause hangovers.

"Women need a drink of their own," said distiller Igor Volodin. "In Moscow there are pink taxis for ladies, there are light cigarettes. But there was no vodka, and we asked ourselves: 'Why?' ... More people suffer from diabetes in Russia than from alcoholism, but no one bans chocolate advertisements."

Volodin says the vodka is designed to be sipped with salads or a light meal.

Estimates of alcoholism in Russia run to as high as 10 percent of the population. "I believe that female alcoholism is a huge problem in Russia. I believe it is as huge and hidden as the underwater part of an iceberg," said Yuri Sorokin, who heads a Moscow addiction treatment program where 60 percent of the alcoholism patients are women. "When such strong marketing experts are involved, I will never be jobless," he said.