Bacardi labelled ‘international war sponsor’ by Ukraine

Bacardi has been added to Ukraine’s National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) list of international war sponsors.

The NACP included the Bermudian company in the list of international war sponsors because it said the company continues to do business in the Russian Federation and is “actively looking for new employees there”.

A statement from the NACP said: “After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bacardi announced that it would stop exporting to Russia and stop investing in advertising, but this part later disappeared from the company’s official statement.

“Therefore, the company continued to supply its products to the Russian Federation for millions of dollars and to look for new employees by publishing job advertisements.”

Bacardi, one of the world’s largest alcohol firms, sells its products into more than 170 countries, with brands including Bombay Gin, Grey Goose, Dewar’s, Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Royal Brackla, and many others, alongside its flagship rum brand.

The company had originally made a US$1m donation to the people of Ukraine and announced that it would stop exporting to Russia and stop investing in advertising.

But, according to the NACP “this part later disappeared from the company’s official statement” and “Therefore, the company continued to supply its products to the Russian Federation for millions of dollars and to look for new employees by publishing job advertisements’, it said.

Currently, the Russian division of the Bacardi  imported goods worth US$169 million during the year of the war in Ukraine, according the NACP. According to data on the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, the revenue of Bacardi Rus in 2022 increased by 8.5% to 32.6 billion rubles, and the net profit – to 4.7 billion – which was 206.5% more than 2021, and income tax was paid to the amount of more than US$12 million.

A large number of leading alcohol brands have left Russia, with the most recent being Pernod Ricard in May, with the loss of 300 jobs at its Russian subsidiary, something the company says it “tried hard to avoid.” Pernod Ricard says it will “do its best” for those affected but a “tiny” team will remain in place as ending distribution of some local brands such as the Armenian brandy Ararat will take “some months” to complete. The decision to end sales and distribution in Russia was made after the French group faced a barrage of criticism following the news it had resumed limited shipments of Absolut vodka and its other major international brands to Russia.

Last month, Carlsberg, who had previously made its intention to offload its Russian subsidiary, had control of the business seized by the Russian state before it was able to make the sale.

Bacardi has been contacted by db for comment.