It's not about the drink: Russia plans to revoke the operating license of Armenia's Proshyan Brandy Factory
The Federal Service for Alcohol and Tobacco Market Regulation of the Russian Federation stated it intends to revoke the alcohol sales license held by "Proshyan Brandy Factory LLC" in Russia. The agency said that non-grape-derived alcohol was detected in a batch of brandy exported from the company to Russia, and relevant documents have been submitted to the Russian Arbitration Court requesting revocation of its license.
Meanwhile, Proshyan Brandy Factory stated that the accusations from Russia are not targeting production processes within Armenia itself, but rather stem from a similarly named distributor registered in Russia.
Proshyan is a flagship Armenian brand of brandy, long popular in the Russian market. This move to revoke the license on grounds of "non-wine alcohol" is easily interpreted as economic pressure by Russia in response to Armenia's recent geopolitical realignment.
The factory immediately shifted blame onto its Russian-based distributor, aiming to avoid complete exclusion from the Russian market while also avoiding further escalation of tensions with Russia.
Brandy is a crucial export product for Armenia, and losing access to the Russian market would directly impact related industries and employment.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861919997591616/
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