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Eastern Europe
May 19, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 16
Vodka oligarch steps up Stolichnaya brand fight with Kremlin
bne IntelliNews
Vodka billionaire Yuri Shefler has a thirst for a fight. The exiled Russian tycoon and his lawyers were back in a Dutch court on May 17, trying to wrest full control of the vodka brand Stolichnaya from the Kremlin in a battle that stretches back more than a decade.
A decision by a Rotterdam court in 2015 forced Shefler’s company Spirits International (SPI) to hand over some trademark rights to the Russian government. The ruling also led to SPI having
to halt the sale of Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
SPI had been hoping to overturn that ruling with a decision on May 17 relating to 13 European juris- dictions, but the court in The Hague deferred final judgement.
This is the first time that a European court has weighed in on the ownership of national trade-
The contested world-famous Stolichnaya vodka brand is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
marks in both EU and non-EU countries. If the Dutch court finds in favour of Russia, SPI argues it would create a dangerous precedent for EU law and would taint the normally business-friendly reputation of the Netherlands.
The battle over the ownership of Stolichnaya vodka has the makings of an epic Tolstoy novel, with a series of skirmishes that feature a fugi- tive Shefler on the run, as well as allegations of death threats, secret distilleries, corporate spy- ing and impounded sea freighters.
“This case represents an expropriation in the name of the Russian state, but really for the ben- efit of people close to the administration,” SPI’s lawyer Radboud Ribbert tells bne Intellinews in an interview. “Somebody powerful wanted what the owner of the business has.”
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March 31, 2017 www.intellinews.com
Bulgaria’s kingmaker parties to hold GERB
to ransom
bne IntelliNews
The centre-right Citizens for European Develop- ment of Bulgaria (GERB) might have won the snap parliamentary elections held on March 26, but the party is heading for tough negotiations with possible partners to gain a large enough majority to form a government, and will most likely be forced to make big compromises to stay in power.
Central Europe starts to tot up Brexit fallout
bne IntelliNews
Central European states expressed regret that the UK is leaving the EU as London triggered the Ar- ticle 50 withdrawal clause on March 29. They also quickly moved to start totting up the direct costs.
The economic effects of Brexit on Central Eu- rope are hard to pinpoint given the wide range of
Two smaller groups in the parliament – the na- tionalist United Patriots coalition and the populist Volya (Will) party – have already said they will pre- sent a united front in talks with GERB. They have also indicated they are willing to work with the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the runner-up in
See page 2
TmhaejoVrispeogwreardsr.egion will be hard hit by the loss of their closest ally amongst the bloc's
potential scenarios under which the UK will exit. However, most suggest the damage will be limited by modest direct trade ties.
In political terms, the Visegrad region will be
See page 3