Agros retains vodka rights; Polmos takes big gulp
An attempt by the Polmos vodka distilleries to wrest control of Agros Trading's exclusive export rights for some of the country's most popular vodka brands failed last week as Sejm committees voted against the proposal.
A cross-party body of 36 Sejm deputies representing the Polmos case had wanted to overturn Agros' exclusivity on well-known vodka brands such as Zubrowka and Wyborowa by adding a clause to a draft law that would regulate trademarks. That clause would have put the right for those vodka brands back to the original producers, the Polmos distilleries. But three Sejm bodies the committee for small to medium-sized business, economic and education, science and youth punted the proposal, saying the law could not impinge upon Agros' commercial agreements with foreign countries.
"Polish law cannot effect legal decisions in other countries," said Andrzej Szumowski, board plenipotentiary at Agros Trading, one of the 22 companies owned by Agros Holding. If the sections of the law in question had gone through, Agros could have stood to lose millions of dollars it currently pulls in from the export of the well-known Polish vodka brands.
Since the late 1960s, Agros Trading has enjoyed total exclusivity to use the Polmos trademarks abroad, and that right has been enshrined in law since the early 1970s.
Last year, Agros Trading exported $11 million worth of vodka, up 10% from 1997. Those exports accounted for 37.5% of Agros Holding's total revenue last year of zl. 102.65 million ($29.33 million). This year, exports are predicted to rise a further 15%, said Wanda Moscicka, head of the vodka department at Agros Trading.
Furthermore, a ban on its exclusivity would have infuriated Agros's majority shareholder, France's Pernod Ricard, which has 74.1% of votes in the company, and 52% of outstanding shares. "These brands are important for us in view of our main investor, it's obvious they've invested due to the vodka brands and the international regulations," said Lidia Kulesza, marketing director at Agros Trading.
For Polmos 25 distilleries, the decision will be a further blow. Previously the Polmoses had enjoyed free-for-all vodka production due to unclear trademark rights, but last July 50 different vodka brands were auctioned off. As of August 2000, the newly auctioned rights will go into force and that will relegate some of the Polmoses to less successful brands. Gaining the export trademark rights would have bolstered some of the distilleries ailing positions in a market where domestic consumption declined 12-13% last year.
