The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, has leveled accusations against Yevgeny Chernyak, identified as the owner of Ukraine’s largest alcohol business. The claims allege that Chernyak engaged in activities that supported Russia. This information appeared on the SBU Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian intelligence service asserts that it has gathered concrete evidence linking Chernyak to actions that could finance a Russian operation against Ukraine. The businessman is now under suspicion for financing a Russian military effort.
The SBU says the core of the case rests on Chernyak’s enterprises in Central Asia and the South Caucasus purchasing alcohol and other materials from Russia. Those transactions are being cited as the basis for the accusation that funds were directed toward Moscow’s objectives.
Meanwhile, the Russian authorities have floated plans to appoint interim managers to supervise assets belonging to Global Spirits, the international alcohol group that includes the Khorta vodka facility.
In Ukraine, the vodka known as Khortitsa, bottled under the Khorta brand since 2022, is part of the broader saga. Chernyak, who heads Global Spirits, has been implicated in absentia for financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a 2023 case that led to his arrest in absentia.
In another development, August Bespalov, a co-owner of Russia based Sever and Rodnik distilleries, has been named on a list of terrorists in Russia.
Previously, a Ukrainian brand Nemiroff faced a lawsuit involving a vodka producer in Russia, adding to the ongoing tensions surrounding cross border alcohol commerce and the larger sanctions landscape.