Putin's Lucrative Vodka Deal: President's Wealth May Have Been Boosted By His Own Brand

Russian President Vladimir Putin may have earned millions from a Russian vodka brand named after him, reports the independent Russian media outlet, Proekt.

Putinka vodka was launched in 2002 by a company called Winexim. 

As reported by Business Insider, Winexim's co-owner Oleg Plakhuta asked Putin's ally Arkady Rotenberg for Putin's permission to use his name. 

"The vodka brand brought in vast sums, with some distributors showing up with bags full of cash to get permission to sell it. Some of that cash was always intended for Putin," an unnamed source told Proekt.

Between 2014 and 2020, Putin secretly owned the company through one of his subsidiary companies, Ermira Consultants.

During that time, Putinka may have made between $400 and $500 million, the outlet reported. 

In 2020, the company was transferred to Baikal-Invest, a company likely controlled by Rotenberg's associates, Proekt said.

Each of the properties was purchased for Putin or members of his inner circle, the Proekt investigation found. 

Also Read: Audience Laughs At Russia's Top Diplomat Declaring Ukraine War Was 'Launched Against Us'

Stanislav Kaufman, who helped launch the brand, told Proekt that a cheap vodka from Soviet times had inspired them.

According to a report by the Mirror, Russian billionaire Vasily Anisimov owned the license for the Putinka vodka brand.

Following the war with Ukraine, Vasily fled Russia and moved to Switzerland. He changed his citizenship from Russian to Croatian, reports the Mirror. 

The Washington Post reported that the Putinka vodka received a boost in 2015, when Russia slashed the minimum price of vodka by 16%, from the equivalent of $3.10 for half a liter to $2.60. 

Last year, when bars and liquor stores in the U.S. began removing Russian vodka from shelves after the invasion of Ukraine, Massachusetts-based Nashoba Valley Spirits released a vodka brand named "F You Putin Vodka." 

The Nashoba Valley Chief Operations Officer Justin Pelletier told Benzinga that the vodka would be available in the market by April 1, 2022. 

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