Sarah Hall Friday March 29, 2002 The Guardian
It is the world's biggest vodka brand, the tipple which Boris Yelstin reputedly packed when on his travels. But British fans of Stolichnaya are in danger of finding it in short measure. Supplies are running out fast, due to a legal dispute involving the Russian government.
Sixty-seven thousand cases of the spirit destined for Britain and the US are being held at a factory in the port of Kaliningrad, Russia, as the exporter SPI Spirits and the Kremlin fight over who owns them.
Stolichnaya was sold to SPI in 1992, but in late January the Moscow arbitration court returned it and 42 other vodka brands to the agricultural ministry in the first nationalisation since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Yesterday the UK distributor, First Drinks Brands, said that the decision was still being contestedd, and while the dispute continued the stocks would be withheld. First Drinks Brands has been unable to supply retailers or bars with Stolichnaya Red for three weeks and it predicts supplies will run out shortly.
Jon Evans, brand manager with the group, said: "We just don't know when supplies will be resumed."
Sainsbury's has been reported as saying it had one week's supply left, but yesterday insisted its branches had enough to meet demand. It declined to say when supplies would run out, but added: "Our buyers are looking at other supply alternatives."
A spokeswoman for Oddbins said it had been given no warning of the situation, and that if it continued for much longer its stores would run out.