Ukraine slaps Bacardi with ‘international war sponsor’ label over exports to Russia
Bacardi, the world’s largest private liquor company whose U.S. headquarters are in Coral Gables, has been sanctioned by Ukraine for expanding its operations in Russia, a move that the Ukrainian government says has provided economic support to the war unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin against the country.
Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention included Bacardi Limited, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, on its list of “international war sponsors” on Thursday, accusing the company of supporting the Russian economy and sponsoring the “aggression against Ukraine.”
“After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bacardi continues to ship millions of dollars worth of products to Russia and attract new employees there,” the agency said in a statement, adding that the company has paid more than $12 million in income taxes to Russia.
The designation as an international war sponsor does not carry legal repercussions such as a freeze freeze of assets or a travel ban. Still, it is intended to shame and cause reputational damage to big international companies that continue doing business with Russia during the war. The list currently names 32 companies, including Unilever and Procter & Gamble.
Bacardi did not immediately respond to a Miami Herald request for comment.
Its inclusion in Ukraine’s blacklist comes three days after the Wall Street Journal detailed how the company did not make good on an early promise to pause exports to Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Instead, Bacardi’s Russian business, Bacardi Rus LLC, imported $169 million in products between June 2022 and June this year. Bacardi Rus also reported a $314 million increase in revenue last year.
Other direct competitors like Pernod Ricard, the distributor of Havana Club rum — whose trademark has been the subject of a bitter legal dispute between Bacardi and Cuba’s state-run Cubaexport — have left the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine.
Founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862 by Facundo Bacardí Masó, Bacardi sells its name-sake rum and other well-known brands like Gray Goose vodka, Patron tequila and Martini vermouth in more than 170 countries, according to its website. The family had to go into exile after Fidel Castro confiscated their assets without compensation in 1960 but kept producing rum in distilleries in Puerto Rico and other places. In 1965, the company opened an office in Miami and then moved to its current location in Coral Gables in 2006.