Stoli Group USA files for bankruptcy protection
By: James Powel
USA today
..... The Stoli Group USAA, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, which makes Stoli vodka among other spirits, field for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week [11/26/2024] for Northern District of Texas.
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The company said in its declaration that reduced demand for spirits in 2023 and 2024 plus rising prices were among the causes of the bankruptcy.
..... The company estimated assets in there range of $100 million to $500 million and debts between $50 million and 4100 million in its voluntary petition.
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Stoli Group USA, along with affiliate and bourbon distributor Kentucky Owl, intend to file a joint plan of reorganization that will "preserve employee jobs and allow the Debtors to continue as a going concern."
..... USA Today reached out to Stoli Group USA for further comment Monday [12/02/2024] and did not receive an immediate response.
..... The American company said in the declaration that the parent company suffered a data breach and reansomware attack in August [2024] that caused "substantial operational issues throughout all companies within the Stoli Group."
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Stoli Group USA said that all systems affected by the attack will be fully operational no earlier than the first quarter of next year. [2025]
..... The company said that the two main holding companies of Stoli Group were designed "extremists" by a Russian court in July [2024] for providing aid to Ukrainian refugees and that the Russian government seized the last assets the company had in the country.
..... The filing noted that the judgment was the latest move in a long-running battle between the Russian government and the spirit producer.
..... The founder of the company, Yuri Shefler, fled Russia in 2002 and faced criminal charges found in the 2010s by the United Kingdom and Switzerland to be politically motivated and unjust, according to the declaration.
..... The company has fought the Putin government for the copyrights to the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka names since 2000 in over we jurisdictions, according to the declaration.
..... The vodka brand changed its name form Stolichnaya to Stoli in 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The spirit has been made in Lativia since 2000.