Ukrainian distillery Nemiroff has temporarily closed and some employees have joined the army as the nation defends itself against the Russian invasion is urging people to donate to the Return Alive Foundation The organisation works to provide assistance via state-of-the-art technical solutions that aid frontline soldiers a spokesperson for Nemiroff said: “It is terrible to start communicating with you by such words Russia invasion reached most of the cities “Ukraine is fighting now not only for the European values of freedom and democracy Russia do not follow basic military rules.” residential areas “and even kindergartens” had been hit by military attacks “As for this morning [Saturday 26 February] “Ukraine is courageously resisting Russian military aggression Our people are demonstrating their indomitable spirit every minute over the last several days “But we need more resources to overcome this and win Nemiroff is asking for financial donations to the Return Alive Foundation Details on how to donate to the foundation can be found via the following link, and through the details in the image below: https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Ukraine is entering its fifth day of fighting against Russia’s invasion Russian troops have made numerous failed attempts to storm the capital of Kyiv Russia’s president Vladimir Putin put its deterrence forces We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again The move has been described as a “strategically” important decision for the spirits brand Nemiroff has won the auction for the purchase of the Nemyriv alcohol distillery with the latter becoming the first of about 80 facilities to be privatised after nearly 30 years of state monopoly in Ukraine on alcohol production The purchase allows Nemiroff to control and improve the quality of key ingredients the quality of Ukrainian alcohol “lagged far behind other countries as the technological base and equipment were outdated” the distillery is located a few hundred metres away from the spirits company providing additional advantages in the logistics of one of the brand’s key ingredients Nemiroff Vodka CEO Yuriy Sorochynskiy said: “We are proud to finally be able to contribute to the integrity of the brand and restore its glorious heritage “Nemiroff Vodka has won the trust and loyalty of millions of consumers around the world through high quality standards and bold tastes The company diligently approaches both the technological process and the selection of ingredients so after privatization we plan to raise the quality of alcohol to a new level that meets global standards.” Tagged with: Sign up for email newsletters for up-to-date news The Spirits Business spoke with the CEO of Nemiroff to find out how the company is operating through the conflict “The initial shock of war when it started on 24 February [2022] for us was a huge disaster,” Yuriy Sorochynskiy, CEO of Ukrainian vodka brand Nemiroff When we realised all of our employees more or less were in safe places and to try and move forward through the struggle During the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nemiroff was forced to temporarily close its distillery in Nemyriv combined with members of staff who had to leave Ukraine and others who volunteered with the Ukraine army The Ukrainian government enforced Prohibition-style laws for selling alcohol in Ukraine strong international markets meant there was demand for Nemiroff vodka outside of the brand’s homeland but getting stock there has been far from easy “Ukrainian sea ports were fully blocked; we deliver to some partners by sea containers we loaded a couple of trucks with our products and crossed our fingers when these trucks were driving to the west border of Ukraine But at the end of March it was five or six days These couple of trucks finally crossed the border and we restarted delivering stock to our international partners from April.” The distillery quietly restarted production at the beginning of April we did not say about the restarting too publicly” “Prohibition laws started to partially change the government decided to reopen sales of alcohol and we started to supply our partners [in Ukraine].” Sorochynskiy says Nemiroff is “working in normal ways” and the company’s head office in Kyiv is open to employees “if they want to come to the office 10 containers of Nemiroff bottles – between 15,000 and 20,000 cases – will arrive in the US at the New Jersey port The war combined with the global logistical challenges mean that the usual 30- to 35-day shipment has taken three months to arrive in the States “The roads are very problematic right now in Ukraine; the cost of delivery has increased significantly there is a huge increase of interest in Ukrainian products and vodka in particular We are more or less achieving our regular monthly volume of production.” Sorochynskiy says the lessons the company learned during pandemic-induced lockdowns have helped Nemiroff restart working during the war the CEO says he is in the office but it is almost empty because a lot of people are working remotely and Sorochynskiy and his team have put multiple safety rules in place to ensure employees remain safe Sometimes there will be several days without them sounding while other times the sirens pierce the air three four or five times throughout a 24-hour period it’s tools down and everyone seeks shelter at the nearest opportunity “Sometimes the alarm might be for one hour It’s war and nobody can say what Putin [will do] or what missiles there will be,” Sorochynskiy says He says Nemiroff’s location in the west of the country is an unoccupied area but some of the company’s main suppliers are in occupied locations the challenges in sourcing and transporting raw materials at the start of the war have been overcome but he assures Nemiroff has a big enough inventory of raw materials to supply its distributors with the stock they need which sources its raw materials from Ukraine and much of the future for Nemiroff looks uncertain Sorochynskiy retains his ever-optimistic outlook on the future “There are two sides to the next six months,” he says the external environment depends on how the situation will be in Ukraine with war how long and when it will stop; this is one side we have all these extra requests from our partners We are working to create the best mood for our employees When they see that we are working on long-term projects we will continue developing new opportunities for us working together to have a better future for employees New products have also not been ruled out – in fact Sorochynskiy confirms a new product is in the works but have been postponed due to the turbulent situation in Ukraine the ultra-premium product is scheduled to make its debut during the first quarter of 2023 “We have to accept that this is the new reality for us in the world and we have to keep in mind the safety procedures to stay healthy and keep our employees and our families safe and protected,” Sorochynskiy adds “I am realistically optimistic; we have to be optimistic and positive to guarantee our future.” This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.