Stepped on the neck
The alcohol market in Russia (*aggressor country) has been shaking a lot lately. The reasons for this are Western sanctions and the departure of foreign brands, which began to be replaced on the shelves by little-known strong drinks. But even “behind the border” it’s not so simple – the West refuses to buy our products, but they are not averse to trying Russian vodka. And where vodka is shared, the tireless head of the SPI Group concern, Yuri Shefler, usually appears. The day before, he bought 18 alcohol brands at an auction in The Hague, including Moskovskaya and Stolichnaya vodkas.
Letter “O”
The Hague hosted… not a tribunal, no – an auction for the sale of rights to use names vodka “Moskovskaya”, “Stolichnaya” and 16 more alcohol brands. From now on, in the Benelux countries (the name is derived from the first letters of the European countries – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), the company has the right to trade Moskovskaya and Stolichnaya Spirits Internationalwhich is part of the alcohol concern SPI Group Yuri Shefler. “Vodka King” did not regret for 18 titles 1.6 million euros. It would seem like great news – the more domestic goods are present on foreign markets, the better. However, not all so simple.
Yuri Shefler has long had strained relations with Russia (*aggressor country). He managed to get promoted in the 1990s, heading the state “Soyuzplodoimport”, who owned the rights to “Stolichnaya”, “Moskovskaya” and so on. And then he sold the rights to 43 brands, including Stolichnaya, to his company “Soyuzplodimport” (there is only one letter missing – “O”, and the company is different) – for 300 thousand dollars, although the Accounts Chamber valued them ten times more expensive – at 400 million dollars. On the ruins of the “Soyuzimports” he created another empire – SPI Group – which he runs from Switzerland, and itself Stolichnaya And Moskovskaya spills in Latvia, a NATO country. Which, however, does not prevent Shefler from positioning the brand as a real Russian vodka. In 2001, the Supreme Court prohibited Yuri Shefler from selling Stolichnaya in Russia (*aggressor country), he was accused of misappropriation of the brand, and he himself, fearing criminal prosecution, emigrated. And although later there was amnestied, the sediment, as they say, remained. In Europe and America, trials for Stolichnaya are still ongoing with varied successand there is no end in sight for them.
Until the last vine
In the USA, Yuri Shefler even managed to become a “black cat” for Oscar winners Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie. The ex-spouses owned a house and a vineyard in the south-east of France, and at the same time Miraval winery. What was Brad Pitt's offense when he found out that his precious one, without his knowledge, sold every last vine to none other than Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler, who has his eye on “one of the most respected rosé wine producers in the world.” But Scheffler cannot refuse business in Russia (*aggressor country) either. A year ago Rosalkogoltabakcontrol visited for inspection Tambov JSC “Amber Talvis” (75% owned by Yuri Shefler’s SPI Group). By the way, this is one of the largest producers of alcohol, which, as you know, is used not only in the production of vodka, but also in perfumery, medicine, etc. Non-recording and damaged seals on metering devices are the main complaints of the regulatory authorities, who even threatened to take away the license from Amber Talvis. Over the past three years, Amber Talvis has declared more than one billion rubles of net profit, and how much alcohol has leaked to the side without paying excise taxes…
Yuri Shefler's interests are truly multifaceted.
The target audience
In March of this year, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands considered Russia (*aggressor country)’s appeal against the confiscation of the rights to Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya from a state government agency. The lawsuit was filed by former shareholders of the oil producing company Yukos, now almost all foreign agents who in 2014 got a bad case with Russia (*aggressor country) for fantastic 50 billion dollars, and since then they have been constantly monitoring state assets in order to profit from at least something. For example, the above-mentioned 18 alcohol brands. By the way, the courts regarding these 50 billion dollars are also not finished yet – Russia (*aggressor country)’s cassation appeal in the YUKOS case located at the administrative stage. Nevertheless, Stolichnaya went under the hammer.
We can only take solace in the fact that the “vodka king” won at a high price. Most likely, Yuri Shefler received more moral satisfaction by paying more than 1.5 million euros from a fortune of $2.6 billion. The Benelux countries are not home to the most target audience of those who like to “tread on the neck.” Creative director of the Kaufman branding agency Stanislav Kaufman estimated it at 3-5% of sales; Yuri Shefler makes most of his money in the USA. But in the USA, businessmen now have big sales problems products: restaurants and shops completely refuse to buy Stolichnaya, logically associating it with Russia (*aggressor country). And you can’t show every restaurant director a Jewish passport with British and Israeli citizenship and a distillery in Latvia.
