The world number two in spirits, Pernod Ricard, has finally given in to the controversy that has erupted in Sweden over its exports of Absolut vodka to Russia: the French group announced this Friday that it will stop selling its products there.
Pernod Ricard, which owns Havana Club rum, Jameson whiskey and Mumm champagne, among others, “can confirm that it has halted all exports of its international brands to Russia at the end of April 2023,” it said in a statement. .
Specifically, the group no longer sends anything to Russia, but the remaining stock will be distributed in the coming months.
Controversy in Sweden
Pernod Ricard has recently been caught up in turmoil in Sweden over the quiet resumption of its exports to Russia, in particular of Swedish vodka Absolut, after being initially suspended just after the start of the US invasion of Ukraine. Moscow.
Faced with the start of a boycott and criticism from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the group announced on April 18 that it was stopping its shipments of Absolut to Russia. But the group’s CEO, Alexandre Ricard, declared a few days later that his company would continue to export its other brands “before seeing more clearly.”
According to the Yale University website, more than a year after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, “about 1,000 companies have publicly announced that they voluntarily restrict their operations in Russia beyond the minimum legally required by international sanctions,” but many others remain there, including the French groups Auchan, Bonduelle or Lactalis.
Protect local teams
Pernod Ricard exports and distributes bottles in Russia, without having production activities there. According to its boss, the group was already going “beyond compliance with the sanctions [internationales]”, refraining from selling at “levels where you could sell if you wanted to.” The company had also “virtually stopped marketing investments,” Alexandre Ricard noted in late April.
Alcohol shipments continued to maintain a certain level of activity on the site and “protecting local teams” from possible accusations of “intentional bankruptcy,” the CEO explained. The local teams are made up of 300 employees, the group’s press service reported.
“Since the outbreak of the war, our guiding principle has been the well-being of our teams, wherever they are based, and we will continue to support our local employees throughout this process,” he says. Before the war, Russia represented less than 3% of Pernod Ricard’s turnover. And more than 500 French companies (including 35 CAC 40 groups) carried out activities in this country, according to the Ministry of Economy, according to which France was then the largest foreign employer in Russia, with some 160,000 employees.
Source: BFM TV
