A Fine Gael Senator is calling for the Irish Government to “intervene” after a bottle of newly distilled Jameson Irish whiskey was spotted for sale in Russia.
Tipperary-based Senator Garret Ahearn obtained pictures of the whiskey, that was bottled in Dublin in December, on a shelf in Moscow.
He has now called for French drinks company Pernod Ricard to be added to the EU sanctions list.
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The company resumed shipments to Russia last year after initially stalling exports following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, the company said they were working to stop the export of drinks, including Jameson Irish whiskey.
Mr Ahearn has now called for the company to be added to the EU sanctions list at the next Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting and has called on Tánaiste Micheál Martin to back the proposal.
The Senator published several pictures of Jameson whiskey that was for sale with Russian labelling in Moscow. The label said that it was bottled in Dublin in December 2022.
He said: “The images of a famous Irish product, complete with the address of Irish Distillers Limited and the Clondalkin address of the bottling operation, are there for all to see on the Russian label.
“It was bottled less than five months ago and is now sold in central Moscow, despite the war in Ukraine.
“While Russian drones and missiles rain down on Kyiv this week, our Jameson whiskey continues to quench Putin’s thirst. Time’s up. This can’t continue.
“The time has come for EU action to be taken as the Pernod Ricard commercial decision has not been clear enough or transparent.
“The Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin should bring this up at this month’s foreign affairs council with his European counterparts to broaden the sanction packages and add Pernod Ricard to the sanctions list.
“I’d encourage the Tánaiste to ask other European Foreign Affairs Ministers to look at their own industries where luxury goods have started to slip back into Russia.”
Mr Ahearn argued that as Pernod Ricard appears to have “no intention of withdrawing Jameson from the Russian market”, the Irish Government has to “intervene”.
This must be done, he argued, to protect Ireland’s “international reputation”.
Pernod Ricard said in April that it “utterly condemned the invasion of Ukraine by Russia”.
It said that it has “reduced the number and quantity of brands” being sold to Russia but that it also has to avoid “ ‘intentional bankruptcy” which is a criminal offence in Russia and represents a significant risk for our employees”.
“The reality of exiting Russia is both complex and extremely challenging,” they added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, meanwhile, said “it is a matter for individual exporters to decide whether to continue to trade with Russia when such trade is not prohibited by the sanctions”.
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