Stoli on the rocks: How tangling with Putin and Brad Pitt helped doom the vodka brand in the US

Owning one of the world’s most successful vodka brands but having to file for bankruptcy is bad enough.For that to happen while Vladimir Putin nurses a vendetta against you? One could say the person in question could easily go from making a toast to being toast.Billionaire Stolichnaya vodka boss Yuri Shefler, 57, is firmly in the ruthless Russian president’s sights and has escaped poisoning and kidnapping attempts ordered by The Kremlin, according to reports.Not only that, he’s also managed to anger Brad Pitt, one of the most revered A-listers left in Hollywood.As well as physically trying to dispose of Shefler, the Russians have targeted him in the wallet, with his company – already acknowledged to be $78 million in debt – the victim of a ransomware attack further contributing to its financial woes in September.While Russia has not officially acknowledged responsibility, a source knowledgeable on such matters told The Post, “It would not surprise me if Russia is behind it.Computer hacking is part of their playbook.

And Putin is not happy with oligarchs who want to live outside of Russia or sympathize with the West.”That led to Stoli Group USA, which imports the vodka to these shores, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas this November.Matters aren’t helped by the demand for vodkas of Russian origin plummeting since the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Shefler’s Stolichnaya is actually made in Latvia, even though it has a Russian landmark on the label.Further exasperating things, Shefler has made clear he sides with Ukraine in the raging almost three-year war, which last week saw one of Russia’s most highly-placed generals assassinated in Moscow.Putin’s revenge is motivated largely by Shefler managing to snag the prized brand – arguably, Russia’s most highly regarded export – at a bargain basement price during the 1990s.His refusal to surrender it in the early 2000s, when Putin wanted to renationalize the vodka industr...