The OSINT community, Molfar, continues to investigate Ukrainian brands that, in our opinion, remain connected to the Russian Federation. The first investigation focused on the activities of ELDORADO. This time, we are examining the vodka business of the Chernyak family: we’ll discuss the status of the Morosha, Shustov, and Khortytsa brands and present ownership structures and business relationships between Russian and Ukrainian legal entities within the Global Spirits group from the beginning of the war until April 2022.
In March, Ukrainian Forbes published a report stating that the Global Spirits holding company, which owns the Khortytsa, Morosha, and Shustov brands, had revoked its license to produce and sell vodka in Russia. The company also mentioned that it had not supplied products to Russia since 2014.
However, the Molfar team established that the Chernyak family continued to profit from their Russian business after 2014. Moreover, after February 2022, only nominal changes were made to the structure of their Russian business.
AMG-77 Investment Ltd
A vital element of the story is the Cypriot company AMG-77 Investment Ltd. Through this entity, Yevhen Chernyak—a businessman, a member of the Forbes TOP 100, the creator of the Big Money YouTube channel, and the #1 business speaker in the CIS — owned the Ukrainian company Global Spirits, founded in the 2000s. The company is known to consumers for its alcoholic brands, such as Morosha, Khortytsa, and Pervak, among others. After achieving success in the local market, Global Spirits expanded into new markets, including Russian. This led to the founding of Global Spirits Russia, which Yevhen Chernyak also owned through the Cypriot AMG-77 Investment Ltd.
Throughout its existence, AMG-77 Investment Ltd has changed its ultimate beneficiary twice:
- In 2007, Yevhen Chernyak was replaced by his son, Oleksandr Chernyak Jr., who was 16 years old.
- In 2015, a year after the annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in Ukraine, Oleksandr Chernyak Jr. was replaced by his grandfather Yevhen's father, Oleksandr Chernyak Sr.
Global Spirits Russia
The Cypriot company AMG-77 Investment Ltd, in addition to Global Spirits Russia, also owned two other Cypriot companies — Oxford AMG-77 Ltd and MSD Marketing System Distribution Ltd. The names of the Russian and Cypriot companies are crucial, as these entities controlled the companies that licensed the production of Chernyak's vodka products in Russia. There are four such companies.
- LLC Rodnik i K 🇷🇺 – a part of Global Spirits Russia (renamed to Traditions of Success in 2022), owns the Shustov and Morosha trademarks.
- LLC Trading House Megapolis 🇷🇺 – a distribution company, part of Global Spirits Russia/Traditions of Success.
- LLC Russky Sever 🇷🇺 – a legal entity of the factory in Vologda, with ownership as of April 2022 consisting of Oxford AMG-77 Ltd 🇨🇾 (99%) and Trading House Megapolis (1%).
- JSC Feodosia Cognac and Wine Factory 🇷🇺 – appears as part of Global Spirits' assets in Russia.
These companies were responsible for producing and distributing Global Spirits alcoholic beverages in Russia even after 2014. Furthermore, the Ukrainian and Russian branches of the business continued their cooperation after 2014.
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As Chernyak mentioned, vodka shipments ceased in 2014. However, everything else continued to flow into Russia: according to the 52wmb portal, companies supplied components such as bottles, labels, and caps. Additionally, imports were also coming from Russia to Ukraine.
From Ukraine to Russia:
- In 2015, LLC Ukrainian Distribution Company (owned by Global Spirits until December 2020) supplied Rodnik i K with colorless glass bottles for Khortytsa Standard.
- In 2017, LLC Ukrainian Distribution Company supplied Russky Sever with colorless glass bottles for Pervak.
From Russia to Ukraine:
- LLC Global Spirits Group – there were 29 known shipments from Russia, including:
- 1 shipment from LLC G F Rus (Russian — Джи Эф Рус) (a Russian supplier of imported food products) in December 2021;
- 1 shipment in 2020 from LLC TD Megapolis By Order Of Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd (Megapolis is part of GS's Russian assets);
- 3 shipments (1, 2, 3) from LLC Okil Sato (a Russian label manufacturer) in 2021;
- 24 shipments from Production Unitary Enterprise Alcopak (Russian — Производственное Унитарное Предприятие Алкопак) (a Russian alcohol packaging manufacturer), the last one in January 2022.
- LLC Global Spirits Europe (GSE) received 10 shipments of caps with logos from the Russian Production Unitary Enterprise Alcopak (a Russian alcohol packaging manufacturer) until February 2021.
It is important to emphasize that until February 24, 2022, the entire alcohol business licensed by Global Spirits for the Russian market was owned by the Cypriot company AMG-77 Investment Ltd through a series of other companies. Control of AMG-77 Investment Ltd was held by the Chernyak family.
As in Ukraine, the Khortytsa brand and others held strong positions in Russia and consistently ranked among the top sellers. The company had significant sales and paid substantial taxes.
The OSINT community Molfar calculated that over the past eight years, companies controlled by AMG-77 Investment Ltd. paid at least $14 million in taxes to the Russian budget.
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Yevhen Chernyak's father also was open to doing business with Russia. He owns a cable manufacturing plant, whose "heroic relocation story" was recently featured in Forbes.
In just the first two months of 2022, the Zaporizhzhia Non-Ferrous Metals Plant, owned and managed by Oleksandr Chernyak Sr., made three shipments (1, 2, 3) of cable products to Russia, totaling $275k (according to the 52wmb portal). The last shipment took place on February 24, 2022.
What changed after February 24, 2022
On the first day of the full-scale invasion, Global Spirits revoked its license to produce and sell its products in the territory of the aggressor country. Molfar tracked what happened next.
The previously mentioned Cypriot company AMG-77 Investment Ltd ceased to own Russian legal entities in May 2022. Oleksandr Bespalov became the new owner of all the Russian companies previously controlled by the Cypriots.
Neither Ukrainian nor Russian journalists could find information about these transactions. This raises an important question: Khortytsa was a market leader in sales in Russia. Why did the manufacturing plant and licensing company change ownership without disclosing the deal? Attempts to contact Bespalov were unsuccessful, but the entire AMG-77 Investment Ltd business appears not unfamiliar to him.
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Bespalov served as the chairman of the board at JSC Feodosia Cognac and Wine Factory (Russian — АО Феодосийский завод коньяков и вин) back in 2020. At the same time, he likely worked at LLC Trading House Megapolis. In other words, Bespalov was probably a manager for several companies owned by the Cypriot company, which was, in turn, owned by the Chernyak family.
American and European companies are transferring Russian business assets to local management as a way of exiting the market. Yevhen Chernyak has not spoken about this, as he has never admitted to having business in Russia. Moreover, materials published on this topic were subject to severe censorship and removed from Google search results.
Until this publication, journalists had not found evidence linking him to the Cypriot AMG-77 Investment Ltd, meaning they could not trace the connection to Oxford AMG-77 Ltd and MSD Marketing System Distribution Ltd, controlled through the abovementioned company. This connection extends to all Russian business operations.
Thus, it seems there was no actual transaction: we simply have a group of companies that sell the number one brand on the market, pay several million dollars in taxes annually, employ over three thousand people, and change ownership. Global Spirits Russia rebrands itself to a name more palatable to the Russian establishment—Traditions of Success. Quietly and without much fanfare. Notably, Bespalov mentions on his VK page that he studied at the FSB Academy and holds Russian citizenship.
What’s happening with Khortytsa, Shustov, and Morosha brands in Russia?
All Ukrainian brands have been given new names which do not differ significantly from the originals. According to the registry, the trademarks Shustov (Шустовъ) and Morosha Lesnaya (Мороша лесная) were registered under Rodnik i K in September 2022 and January 2023.
And what about the famous Cossack Khortytsa? We managed to obtain photos of the “new” brand Khorta. These bottles can be found, for example, in Russian Auchan stores. The listed manufacturer is LLC Russky Sever. We did not find a trademark Khorta with identical lettering; the only known trademark Khorta was registered in 1992 by the Zaporizhzhia KP Khorta and has been inactive since 2001. So, what’s next?
Why is Chernyak still linked to the Russian business?
The Molfar team uncovered another piece of evidence, among various others, that, in our opinion, directly or indirectly points to the nominal nature of the deal between AMG-77 Investment Ltd and Oleksandr Bespalov.
In June 2022, just a month after the "vodka deal of the year," a legal entity that may belong to the Ukrainian Global Spirits group registered the trademark Shustov in Russia, indicating that the company seemingly continues to have a presence in the Russian market.
The legal entity registered the Shustov trademark in Russia is GSH Trademarks Limited. This company also owns the rights to the Khortytsa trademark in Ukraine. In 2007, GSH Trademarks Limited was owned by Cypriot Oxford AMG-77 Limited. As of February 2023, it is owned by Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd. Notably, since 2021, Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd has been registered under Signa Consulting Trust Reg, which in 2020 was owned by Yevhen Chernyak. Moreover, Global Spirits AMG Europe Ltd owns the Ukrainian LLC Global Spirits Group.
What’s the purpose behind this?
We speculate that this was done to avoid losing the market. Again, this is a common practice among many European companies that leave their Russian businesses to local management with a buyback option over 5, 10, or even 50 years. The brand names have not changed significantly, and the bottle designs appear to have remained the same. We can assume that Chernyak's team plans to return to the large Russian alcohol market after Ukraine's victory and does not want to sever ties with it, along with the associated earnings.
And there is a lot at stake: according to various estimates, the company could earn over $8 million annually from sales of Khortytsa in Russia alone.
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UPDATE:
In response to this investigation, a representative of Yevhen Chernyak contacted us and provided documents outlining their position on the matter. Expressly, the Statement on the Exercise of the Right to Respond states that the Russian companies LLC TD Megapolis, LLC Rodnik and K, and LLC TD Russky Sever have not belonged to GLOBAL SPIRITS since 2014.
According to this statement, Yevhen Chernyak has no connection to the listed companies. It is also noted that since 2014, Chernyak has been actively involved in volunteering and charity work to support Ukrainians affected by the war.
Additionally, a letter regarding the exit from the Russian market is provided. It states that the GLOBAL SPIRITS group of companies holds a "pro-Ukrainian position," which is why it has been sanctioned by Russia.
The documents also mention that some of the materials cited in this investigation have already been published, and Yevhen Chernyak has legally proven their falsehood. This refers to the Antikor case. According to the Obolon Court's decision on 12/14/2022 in case No. 756/6009/22, the information published in Antikor articles (1, 2, 3, 4) is inaccurate.
