The banker mixed cognac – Newspaper Kommersant No. 220 (7421) of 11/28/2022

The increase in demand for Russian cognac, including the low price segment, and the growth in turnover of this segment led to the strengthening of previously invisible market players. So, the top twenty beverage producers included a structure whose founder Arie Geler could have been a partner of Yuri Shefler, the founder of SPI Group, at one time. Further business growth, experts do not exclude, will be complicated by tougher competition and a limited share of brands in the mass segment.

The top twenty cognac producers in Russia included LLC VKZ Sheremetyevsky, whose co-owner could be a partner of the founder of SPI Group Yuri Shefler, who was suing the Russian Federation for the rights to Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka brands. This follows from the statistics available to Kommersant of alcohol market participants and data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, more than 60% of the Sheremetevsky VKZ is owned by the company itself, and about 40% is owned by Country LLC, an Israeli citizen, Arie Geler, co-owner of Sinco-Bank. He was also mentioned in the media as a shareholder of Delovaya Rossiya Bank, whose license was revoked in 2003. And Yuri Shefler in 2002, in an interview with Kompaniya magazine, called Mr. Geler one of the co-owners of the Russian SPI at the end of the 1990s. A Kommersant source familiar with the work of the SPI Group confirmed that Mr. Geler was among the co-owners of the group at an early stage, but soon went out of business. In the Stoli Group, created on the basis of SPI Group, Cinco-bank and VKZ Sheremetevsky, Kommersant did not answer. It was not possible to contact Aria Geler himself.

In January-October 2022, Sheremetyevsky VKZ (until July 2022, Mega-alco Group) produced 53 thousand decalitres of cognac, which is 37% more year-on-year, follows from the data of market participants. The company manages a plant in Dolgoprudny, near Moscow, produces drinks “Sheremetevsky Standard”, “Talent Sommelier”, etc. In Perekrestok, three-year-old cognacs of these brands cost 489 rubles. and 599 rubles. per 0.5 liter bottle respectively. According to the Federal Accreditation Service, the Sheremetevsky VKZ received declarations of conformity for cognac distillates from Uzbekistan.

Against the backdrop of a reduction in the import of strong alcohol in the Russian Federation after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and a new wave of Western sanctions, the local production of cognacs is growing. According to Rosalkogolregulirovanie, in January-October, the production of the drink increased by 14.66% year-on-year, to 7.18 million decalitres. For comparison: the production of vodka increased by 7.7%, to 67.01 million decalitres.

General Director of KVK (Crimean Vodka Company; Koktebel cognac) Viktor Zlotnitsky says that the desire to replace falling imports has led to an increase in demand for Russian cognac. According to him, about 40% of sales in the category are for drinks priced up to 550 rubles. per bottle of 0.5 l, but a significant increase in the share of the segment this year is not observed. In addition, Mr. Zlotnitsky adds, in the lower price segment only price competition is possible, so KVK does not see any prospects in it.

But the owner of the Traditions of Success group of companies (Hort vodka, Dynasty Gold cognac) Alexander Bespalov notes a trend towards reorientation of consumers towards low-price products, including inexpensive cognacs. According to him, the growth in demand in the category will stimulate the launch of new local brands. So, his group of companies plans to start producing traditional aged cognacs and cognac cocktails.

According to Viktor Zlotnitsky, in the near future KVK is going to increase sales of ordinary cognacs in the middle segment at 550-750 rubles. for a bottle of 0.5 liters. And he calls the category of vintage cognacs the most promising – from 750 rubles. per bottle, which included, among other things, foreign brands that stopped deliveries to Russia.

Director of CIFRRA Vadim Drobiz notes that Russian cognac is still not a drink for every day and a decrease in consumer income is unlikely to lead to an increase in demand for a cheap product. Rather, the expert notes, sales of small bottles for single consumption may grow.

Anatoly Kostyrev