Moscow court upholds arrest warrant for Stolichnaya vodka brand owner

The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling to issue an arrest warrant for Russian businessman Yury Shefler, who is charged with illegal use of the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka brands.

The court rejected an appeal filed by Shefler's defense against the decision by Moscow's Basmanny Court in August to issue a warrant in absentia for his arrest.

Shefler is believed to currently be residing in London, Shefler's lawyer, Sergei Starovoitov, said last month citing information provided by the Federal Security Service.

Shefler's S.P.I. Group and the Russian government have disputed ownership rights to the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya brands for years.

Before the break up of the Soviet Union, the brands were owned by state-owned company VO Soyuzplodoimport, which was privatized and subsequently sold the brands to S.P.I. Group in 1997.

In 2002, the rights for the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya brands in Russia were transferred to another state-owned company, FKP Soyuzplodoimport, on the grounds that a court had declared VO Soyuzplodoimport's privatization illegal.
Shefler has been on an international wanted list since then.

Meanwhile, S.P.I. Group's rights to the brands are still recognized abroad.