Moskovskaya Vodka ‘decidedly not Russian’, Amber clarifies

Amber Beverage Group (ABG) has clarified that its Moskovskaya Vodka is ‘decidedly not Russian’, as many retailers vowed to boycott Russian vodka in response to the Ukrainian crisis.

The company said the vodka is made in its Latvian distillery established in 1900, Latvijas balzams, using 100% European Union materials.

“As the founder of the SPI Group, the holding company of Amber Beverage Group, I relocated all production to Latvia when I was forced into a conflict with Putin’s regime in 2000 and left Russia,” said Yuri Shefler, the main shareholder of Amber Beverage Group.

“I am grateful to Latvia and its people for providing a safe haven for the company. It has been a great journey, bringing close to €1.5 billion paid in taxes to the state of Latvia. Today, the company stands for peace in Europe and in solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” said Yuri Shefler, the main shareholder of Amber Beverage Group.

ABG was one of the first global businesses to announce and offer support to the people of Ukraine, donating financial resources to the initiative Stand With Ukraine to provide support where it is most necessary.

Jekaterina Stuģe, ABG chief executive, said: “We could not silently observe what is happening from the sidelines. Military action in Ukraine is unacceptable to us, and our aim is to offer support to the people affected. Today more than ever we want to emphasize that Amber Beverage Group is a Luxembourg-headquartered, global company and that our business and our core brands, such as Moskovskaya Vodka, Riga Black Balsam and others, are international brands, made in Latvia, Estonia, Ireland or Mexico, mainly using production materials from European Union countries.”

The business also revealed that Riga-based Latvijas balzams has had to change the delivery routes of some materials following the current situation in Ukraine. For several years the company used various materials from Ukraine - corks, capsules, bottles, labels, shippers - but it is now sourcing these from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Germany for the operational continuity.