The owner of Stoli Group has told a UK newspaper of a recent attempt to “wrest control of my business from me”, claiming that Russian president Vladimir Putin was connected to the move.
In an interview with The Telegraph published today (9 October), Yuri Shefler, who bought the rights to the Stolichnaya vodka brand outside of Russia in 1997, claimed that former Latvian Prime Minister Andris Šķēle demanded last month that Shefler hand him control of Stoli Group. The claim, which the former Prime Minister denies, also connects Šķēle with President Putin’s “inner circle”.
“I believe Mr Šķēle, a man with links to Putin’s inner circle, is involved in an attempted corporate raid of Stoli Group,” Shefler told The Telegraph.
Shefler, who left his home country of Russia in 2003 and lives in the UK, has fought to resist Russian attempts to seize Stoli Group for approaching 25 years. In late 2024, the business, which is headquartered in Luxembourg, had to resort to manual operations following a cyber attack in the US, with then-CEO Chris Caldwell noting at the time that Russian authorities had listed Stoli Group as “an extremist organisation” three months earlier.
Responding to Shefler’s claim this week, Šķēle said in the same news article that he had approached the Stoli Group owner after he was approached by “creditors who I personally know for years and respect [who are] involved in attempts to save [Amber] Latvijas Balzams from its looming bankruptcy”.
Amber Latvijas Balzams, which is part of Stoli Group’s sister company, Amber Beverage Group, is part-listed in Latvia but majority owned by Shefler. The unit, which is the largest beverage alcohol producer in the Baltic states, was voluntarily placed in legal protection at the start of this year, a move prompted by problems with its creditors. A month later, Amber Beverage Group itself defaulted on a loan.
The latest development, detailed in a filing on Wednesday (6 October), has seen Amber Latvijas Balzams apply to terminate its legal protection after failing to secure approval from creditors of a proposed repayment plan. The unit claimed that an unnamed “third party acquired a majority of the claims against the company” held by two creditors, “thereby obtaining significant influence within the secured creditors’ group”.
This third party is alleged to have proposed conditions deemed unacceptable as they “would have resulted in significant influence over and control of the company being transferred to the respective creditor”.
Amber Latvijas Balzams’ board concluded that it is considering its “legal and procedural options” to keep the division operational.
Finally, this week, Global Drinks Intel has learned that Amber’s unit in the UK has been put up for sale, although a spokesperson for the subsidiary said they “prefer not to comment on gossip” when contacted for confirmation.
