Swedish vodka maker Absolut resumes shipments to Russia - paper

MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) - Swedish vodka maker Absolut, which is part of French group Pernod Ricard, has decided to partially resume shipments of its alcohol products to the Russian market, Kristianstadsbladet reported, citing Absolut vice president for corporate communications and public affairs, Paula Eriksson.

Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Pernod Ricard has treated its employees in both Ukraine and Russia with respect, Eriksson said in a statement.

Under current sanctions, the group is supplying products in an amount that can support local employees and ensure the financial stability of the local organization, she said.

Pernod Ricard suspended all imports into Russia and exports from Russia a little over a year ago, but now this suspension is over, the paper said.

The director of the CIFRRA alcohol markets research center, Vadim Drobiz said Absolut's decision to return to the Russian market is completely understandable. "It had the exclusive right to distribute its premium and very popular products in Russia. Since there were large inventories, there was no shortage, and parallel imports got going at the end of last year," he said.

He said the company has returned because it stopped making money on distribution in Russia. "Our market is not the biggest for premium alcohol, but it's still completely understandable that the company felt the departure from it," Drobiz said.

Pernod Ricard's Russian subsidiary, JSC P.R. Rus closed 2020 with a net profit of 1.3 billion rubles on revenue of 20.64 billion rubles, the SPARK-Interfax system showed. More recent data are not available. Pernod Ricard makes whisky under the Chivas Regal and Jameson brands and Ararat brandy.

Diageo (brands Johnnie Walker, Baileys), Brown Forman (Jack Daniel's whisky, Finlandia vodka) and LVMH (Hennessy, Moet & Chandon, Bacardi) previously also suspended shipments to or left the Russian market.