Ukrainian cognac and champagne lovers will have to switch to French versions of their favorite beverages if having the name “cognac” and “champagne” on the bottle in front of them is crucial.
Under the association agreement with the European Union, whose economic part was signed on June 27 in Brussels, Ukraine has to stop using those names – along with Armagnac, Grappa, Madeira and Xeres – for locally produced alcohol drinks in 2024. These brand names are valid only for beverages made in the French regions of Cognac and Champagne.
“Brandy” and “sparkling wine” are top candidates for substituting the world-known French beverage names.
After a 10-year adaptation period, Ukrainian producers will not be able to get relevant licenses anymore for using the Champagne and Cognac names, while violators will face fines – up to 200 percent of the production cost, said Tetyana Mykytenko, a lawyer for Jurline, a legal service provider.
However, Volodymyr Kucherenko, head of the wine producers association Ukrvynprom, says local companies will still be able to use Cyrillic transliterations of “cognac” and “champagne” under World Trade Organization rules and Ukraine’s special 2011 “winery” agreement with the EU.
But Inna Rudnyk, legal expert for Lavrynovych & Partners law firm, does not agree. “The association agreement was signed later and has higher judicial power,” she said. Restriction on usage of France’s popular geographic names for alcohol includes all kinds of translations and transliterations, Rudnyk added.
The necessity to eventually rebrand the beverages comes during current hard times for local wineries.
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Ukraine lost 35 percent of its wine production capacities, including Inkerman, a major Sevastopol-based winemaker. Inkerman, which provides half of the country’s wine exports, launched its champagne production in 2013, but its future remains unclear.
Still, wine and cognac consumption is growing. Experts admit that Ukrainians are now drinking less vodka than they did before.
Odesavynprom, a winery in Ukraine’s southern region, has already re-categorized half of its champagne brands as sparkling wine. “We understand that if we want to be in the civilized world, it’s necessary to obey these rules,” explains Volodymyr Maslenkov, the company’s executive director.
This means Ukraine will have to get rid of its Soviet Champagne brand, which held a monopoly on the U.S.S.R. alcohol market and still enjoys popularity. “The Ukrainian nation needs to find the strength and ban this product.” Maslenkov says.
Oleksandr Mayorov, chief executive officer of Global Spirits, a major alcohol producer that supplies Shustov cognac and Soviet Champagne to supermarkets, said Ukrainian producers should be able to use Cognac and Champagne during a transitional period to brandy and sparkling wine.
Sergiy Mykhaylechko, director for the Assocation of Winegrowers and Winemakers, says that the cost of rebranding is affordable only for large holdings.
Ukrvynprom’s Kucherenko sees Europe’s overproduction as a risk for the Ukrainian alcohol market, which could get flooded with imports, potentially costing winemakers Hr 6 billion a year.
Maslenkov of Odesavynprom and Mayorov of Global Spirits are confident, however. “We are ready,” they both say.
Kyiv Post staff writer Iana Koretska can be reached at [email protected].
