Ukraine included Bacardi in the list of “war sponsors”

The authorities of Ukraine included the company Bacardi Limited – one of the largest producers of alcoholic beverages in the world – in the list of “international sponsors of war”.

As stated in the message of the National Anti-Corruption Agency, “after the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, Bacardi continues to supply products to Russia worth millions of dollars and attract new employees there. Thus, Bacardi continues to pay taxes to the budget of Russia, support its economy and sponsor aggression against Ukraine”. In particular, according to the agency, the Russian division of the Bacardi Rus company imported $169 million worth of products into the country during the war, while the company’s net profit last year grew more than 3 times compared to 2021, amounting to 4.7 billion rubles. The company allegedly paid about 12 million dollars to the budget of Russia, thereby participating in the financing of hostilities against Ukraine.

In the spring of 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company announced the cessation of supplies to Russia and investments in advertising, however, at the end of June 2023, the words about the cessation of supplies disappeared from the company’s press release, The Bell drew attention to this.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Bacardi now has 350 employees in seven cities in Russia, and the company continues to look for new employees.

The Bacardi company, registered in Bermuda, in addition to the rum of the same name, owns such brands as Gray Goose vodka, Patrón tequila, Aberfeldy whiskey, Dewar’s, William Lawson’s, Bombay Sapphire gin, Baron Otard bourbon, vermouths and Martini & Rossi wines.

The company’s reaction to the decision of the Ukrainian authorities is not yet available.

The inclusion of a company in the list of international sponsors of war is not the same as the introduction of sanctions against it. Such companies can continue to work on the Ukrainian market. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption claims that the purpose of the list is to “make it so that such companies are not reputationally profitable to cooperate with the aggressor, they closed their business in Russia “and realized the position of the entire civilized and democratic world”. The list includes, in particular, Austrian Raiffeisen, British Unilever, Hungarian OTP Bank, French corporation Auchan and a number of other well-known companies that continue to do business in Russia.