Ukraine, the ‘Tsars’ of Vodka to conquer wine, the business in Italy

Italian wine also speaks a lot of Russian. There are many Russian interests in one of the leading sectors of Made in Italy that are now at risk of being hit by sanctions. The exemplary case is represented by Gancia which, for more than ten years has been under the control of the Russian Standard Corporation, owned by the Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko who owns the shares of Russian Standard Company, producer and distributor of Russian Standard Vodka and of Roust, general distributor in Russia of “premium” alcoholic beverages. The Russian holding company also includes the Russian Standard Bank, one of the main banks in Russia and the Russian Standard Insurance insurance company. The Russian magnate is at home in Porto Rotondo and in 2020 he was awarded honorary citizenship by the municipality of Olbia for “the laudable and generous initiatives for the benefit of the city, for the attachment to this land and for having contributed to the spread of image of Olbia in the world “. The Russian expansion in the Italian wine sector also boasts the presence of another vodka ‘czar’, Yuri Shefler, who is the owner of Spi-Group based in Luxembourg and on which about 400 brands of alcohol depend, including which there is Stolichnaya vodka. Spi Group through the subsidiary “Tenute del Mondo Group” is a minority shareholder of “Tenute di Toscana”, the holding company 73.6% controlled by the Frescobaldi group, under which top Italian wine brands such as Masseto and Ornellaia in Bolgheri fall. , and Luce della Vite and Castelgiocondo in Montalcino (source Winenews). of another Russian billionaire Victor Kharitonin, who recently bought 95% of the Monzio Compagnoni di Adro winery in Franciacorta.