Alcohol, Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The ruling is only for the BeNeLux market and so the decision affects a very small part of our overall global marketplace. SPI Group still owns the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya trademarks in over 190 countries across the world, but not in Russia. The Stolichnaya sold within Russia is a different vodka, owned by an unrelated state-controlled entity called FKP.

The decision is the result of a long effort by the Russian government to confiscate the Stolichnaya trademarks, purchased legitimately by SPI from private shareholders and not from the state. The trouble between SPI and the Russian Federation started with an order from President Putin in 2000. Since that time, SPI has been in litigation all over the world to protect its claim.

While the Benelux judgement is a setback for the company, we have had recent successes in courts in other jurisdictions in respect of the same trademarks, such as Chile, Austria and the United States.

Founded in 1997 by Yuri Shefler, SPI Group (headquartered in Luxembourg) is the owner of global vodka brands such as the iconic Stolichnaya® Premium vodka range, elit™ by Stolichnaya® and Moskovskaya®. SPI is one of the world’s leading wines and spirits organizations active in the production, sale and distribution of more than 380 brands – many of which it owns.