New Delhi: In a symbolic move to show support for Ukraine that has been invaded by Russia, at least six states in the United States of America have ordered state-owned liquor stores to stop selling Russian-made and branded vodkas, media reports said.
The states include Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Utah and Virginia where the governors have ordered the removal of vodka from shelves, The Guardian reported.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott (R) asked all retailers to voluntarily remove Russian products from their shelves, while Tom Cotton, Republican Senator for Arkansas, tweeted that Americans should dump vodka and “send the empty bottles to Ukraine to use for Molotov cocktails”.
“Russia’s ruthless attack on a sovereign nation is an egregious violation of human rights,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on Sunday. “Utah stands in solidarity with Ukraine and will not support Russian enterprises, no matter how small the exchange.”
Will It Affect Russia Economy?
The boycott, however, is unlikely to impact Russia’s economy much because Russian vodkas and products account for a very little fraction of the US vodka market.
Only 1.2 per cent of the US vodka imports came from Russia in the first half of 2021, news agency Reuters said, quoting data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
According to the report, vodkas produced in Russia account for only about $18.5 million of the $1.4 billion vodka import market in the US, including $660 million from France.
The best-selling Russian-made vodkas in America are produced by brands such as Green Mark and Russian Standard, The Guardian report said.
Russian Standard is distributed by Moscow-based Roust Group and Roust International.
Many Russian-styled vodkas are made in other countries, including in the US. Stolichnaya, for example, is produced in Latvia, and its Russian-born billionaire owner Yuri Shefler now lives in Geneva, Switzerland.
Sale of Stolichnaya vodka is in fact banned in Russia because of an ownership dispute, the Reuters report said.
Popular vodka brand Smirnoff, similarly, is owned and produced by a British company, Diageo.
Ukraine also makes vodka, such as Kozak and Vektor, and some bar owners and liquor stores in the US have now started to promote these Ukrainian brands, news agency AP reported.
In Canada also, some provinces including Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia issued orders last week, asking provincial liquor stores to stop selling Russian-made brands.
The Ontario liquor control board Friday removed Russian-made products from its 679 stores.