Not all Russian vodka is actually Russian, let alone pro-Kremlin

There was a time when asking whether a particular vodka came from Russia was a sign of concern about the quality of the drink. Now, it could be the harbinger of a boycott.

In the wave of cancellation that sweeps away everything connected with Moscow, the West has found in the spirit a symbolic target to position itself against the invasion of Ukraine. The problem is that not all Russian vodka is actually Russian — let alone pro-Kremlin.

In the United States, consumers and bar owners decided to protest the war by dumping bottles of Stolichnaya on the floor. However, in addition to the brand being made in Latvia, its founder is a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin and says he went into exile in Europe to escape the president’s persecution.

Yuri Shefler is a Russian billionaire who bought the vodka company in 1997 and turned Stolichnaya into a globally recognized label. According to the company’s website, in 2000, Putin began to fight a worldwide trademark battle — a dispute that is still ongoing in some countries.

The dispute over ownership has ended up in the Russian Supreme Court and, currently, bottles of the drink cannot be sold within the country’s borders.

In 2002, Shefler went into exile in Luxembourg and has not returned to Russia since. Today, he lives in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I have personally experienced persecution by the Putin regime and I share the pain of Ukraine and its people,” the founder said in a statement on the company’s website.

In an attempt to distance itself from Russia at this time of war, the Stoli Group —the company behind the brand—decided to take a series of measures. The first was to change the name of Stolichnaya to Stoli.

Whoever accesses the brand’s Instagram page is faced with a mosaic of nine photos that form a dove of peace in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

“The Stoli Group stands for peace in Europe and solidarity with the Ukrainian people. #LiberateUkraine” is the caption of the posts.

The message of support for Ukraine is also the first thing one sees when accessing the group’s website. In a statement entitled “Stoli Group, denounces Russian aggression and shares history of opposition,” the company says it has a long history of fighting the Russian regime.

According to the group’s global CEO, Damian McKinney, the company unequivocally condemns the military action in Ukraine. “For decades, the Stoli Group resisted the Putin regime. We are now with all Ukrainians and Russians asking for peace,” he said.

New McCarthyism

In the wake of economic sanctions against Moscow, countries such as the US and UK have banned the import of various Russian products, including vodka. However, much of the boycott of the drink has a more symbolic than strategic connotation.

In New Zealand, a large retail chain removed thousands of bottles of vodka from shelves and replaced them with Ukrainian flags. A similar decision was taken in Canada, more precisely in Ontario, whose beverage control board removed the products from its 679 stores.

In the United States, governors of states such as New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah have asked liquor stores to stop selling the labels.

“Dispose of all Russian vodka and, accompanied by ammunition and missiles, send the empty bottles to Ukraine for them to use to make Molotov cocktails,” tweeted Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

The problem is that less than 2% of the vodka consumed in the US actually comes from Russia. Brands like Smirnoff, Ciroc, Absolut, Svedka, Gray Goose and SKYY, for example, are distilled in the UK, Sweden, France or in the US itself.

Boycott didn’t catch on in Brazil

In Brazil, the cancellation of Russian vodkas even happened, but it was shy. According to Euromonitor data, the country is the 11th largest beverage market in the world. The top five are Russia, USA, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus.

In 2020, Brazilians consumed about 43.9 million liters of the drink, numbers well below beer, which is a national preference with 13 billion liters, cachaça (398 million) and wine (380 million).

Apparently, the war in Ukraine did not affect this market. According to Interfood, one of the main beverage importers in the country, purchases have not been harmed so far. The last shipment to Brazil was on February 23, the day before the first missiles reached Ukrainian territory.

Abrabe (Brazilian Beverage Association) also said it had no news about boycotts of Russian vodka in the Brazilian market.

However, some occasional cancellations were recorded. As with stroganoff, Russian vodka was removed from the menu of some restaurants in São Paulo.

The Japanese restaurant Tadashii, for example, chose to change the drink used in drinks for Absolut, which is Swedish. In addition, it also renamed the moscow mule, which is now called the Ukrainian mule. According to the house, the old menu returns when the war is over.