A Russian court has sentenced businessman Evgeny Chernyak, founder of global alcohol company Global Spirits (vodka brands Khortytsa, Morosha and Pervak), in absentia to 14 years in prison. The Moscow Prosecutor’s Office announced the ruling against Chernyak, without specifying which court heard the case.
Czerniak was charged under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code (financing of terrorism). According to investigators, between May 2022 and February 2023, he organized the transfer of more than 300 million rubles to the accounts of foreign companies “allegedly to fulfill the terms of the contracts and the contract for the supply of cognac distilleries.” The investigation claimed that these funds “were actually intended to provide financial and material assistance to military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
A criminal case was opened against Chernyak in Russia in July 2023. Rosfinmonitoring added a businessman based outside Russia to its list of terrorists and extremists. In June 2024, Global Spirits’ alcohol assets were nationalized in Russia.
In December 2023, the Ukrainian Security Service announced that it suspected Chernyak of financing Russian armed aggression due to the fact that his companies continued to do business in the Russian Federation.