MOSCOW, Aug 8 Spirits maker Bacardi, which announced it was suspending business in Russia last year, continues to operate in the country with increased sales and profit, according to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the newspaper, the company announced almost immediately after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine that it was suspending exports to Russia and freezing advertising investments. Such a statement, according to the newspaper, was published on the company's website for almost the entire past year, but later this part was removed from the statement.
«Continuing to import brands such as Gray Goose vodka, Martini vermouth and the eponymous Bacardi rum, the family-owned company has reported sales and profit growth in Russia over the past year, while many of the world's biggest spirits brands have endured a costly retreat from countries,» the paper said.
For Bacardi, Russia is an important market. The company began selling spirits of its brands in 1992, and in 2018 the company included Russia in the list of five countries that will most influence its growth. Today the company employs 350 people in Russia.
However, the publication notes that Bacardi is not the only brand that has decided to stay in Russia. According to the newspaper, his competitor, Davide Campari-Milano, which produces Aperol and Campari, has also decided to stay in Russia.
In June, Alexander Stavtsev, head of the WineRetail information center, said that Bacardi products (Bacardi rum of the same name, Martini vermouths, Laurent-Perrier champagne, Gray Goose vodka and other brands) continue to enter the Russian market not through parallel imports , the company is working on the development of this market together with domestic retailers.