A company of former top managers of Sberbank became a co-owner of the Organika vodka brand

Former top managers of Sberbank Kirill Polishkin and Jan Weizman, whose structure received permission to buy out Caterpillar assets in the Russian Federation, became interested in the vodka business. Their company became a co-owner of the Organika brand, one of the top five in sales in the premium plus segment. Experts see potential for local brands of expensive vodka, including due to the declining share of global brands.

The structure of former Sberbank top managers Kirill Polishkin and Jan Weizman, PSK-Resheniya, became the owner of 10% of Evrika LLC, which owns the Organika and Organika Life vodka brands. Changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities were made in January 2024. Organika representatives did not promptly answer Kommersant’s questions. The trading company Organika, associated with the brand, did not provide comments.

Kirill Polishkin was deputy director of the department for working with the largest clients of Sberbank CIB, and Jan Weizman headed the bank’s department for working with clients in the metallurgy and mining industry. At the end of 2023, PSK – New Solutions LLC, controlled by them, received permission from the President of the Russian Federation to buy out the plant and leasing company of the American manufacturer of special equipment Caterpillar (see “Kommersant” dated November 28, 2023). In PSK-Resheniya, Kirill Polishkin owns 50.04%, and Jan Weizmann and Zalina Zangieva each have 24.98%. It was not possible to contact them.

The founder of Eureka is the former co-owner of the Gross Plants group of companies (Slavyanskaya vodka) Renat Khuzin. As follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Integral LLC, controlled by him, owns 40% of Eureka, and Mr. Khuzin himself has 10.1% in the company. In 2019, ex-head of Sberbank Andrey Kazmin and Alla Kazmina each received 12.5% ​​of Eureka. The remaining share is owned by Eureka CEO Alexander Brinza.

Organika, as follows from the data on the Winestyle online showcase, is produced at the Yaroslavl Distillery and Vodka Factory (YALVZ). In January 2024, Bryanskspirtprom (BSP) also received a declaration for the production of vodka under this brand, according to the Federal Accreditation Agency. In the ABC of Taste catalog Organika sells for 820 rubles. per 0.5 l bottle, Organika Life – 1.99 thousand rubles. per bottle 0.7 l. YALVZ and BSP Kommersant did not respond.

According to data from market participants, in 2023 Organika sales increased by 16.6%, to almost 44 thousand nine-liter boxes. This corresponds to fourth place in the premium plus vodka segment after Beluga (Novabev Group), Nerpa (Baikal) and Absolut (Pernod Ricard). Finlandia (Brown-Forman) takes fifth place. Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman stopped working in Russia after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, and sales of Absolut and Finlandia, according to Kommersant data, decreased in 2023.

Novabev Group reported that in 2023, brands from the premium and higher segments grew at double-digit rates and the Beluga brand was among the fastest growing brands in Russia. The Simple Group reported that sales of Onegin vodka have been growing by at least 50% per year for the last three years.

The head of WineRetail, Alexander Stavtsev, says that in 2023, sales of premium vodka could be facilitated by a reduction in the presence of well-known whiskey brands, some of whose consumers switched to understandably other strong drinks. With the growth of parallel imports of whiskey, the situation has changed, but there is potential for the development of premium vodka brands, the expert points out. According to Mr. Stavtsev, marketing plays a big role in the category and without promotional support, the share of brands such as Absolut and Finlandia may continue to decline.

The owner of the Kaufman brand agency, Stanislav Kaufman, points out that in the premium segment it is more difficult to compete with the leader due to the large gap. Consumers of expensive vodka are more resistant to crises and are not ready to change habits, he points out. Secretary of the Alcopro guild Andrei Moskovsky adds that prices for Russian drinks have not risen as much as for imported ones. But, according to him, success in the category requires investment in production – from raw materials to special technologies for the production of alcohol.

Anatoly Kostyrev