Pernod Ricard to invest in Wyborowa vodka, expand sales in Poland and U.S.

France-based Pernod Ricard, the strategic investor in Polish alcohol producer Agros Holding, intends to invest as much as zl. 35 million this year in Agros' vodka company Wyborowa. Pernod Ricard wants to double Wyborowa's share of the domestic alcohol market. Agros Holding president Yves Flaissier said that over the next five years the concern is planning to increase Wyborowa's market share to 10%, and that it may be possible even to exceed this level. Flaissier also said that Agros Holding intends to expand sales of Wyborowa in the United States, adding that the American alcohol market accounts for half of the world alcohol market outside Russia. In related news, the Poznan district court has ruled that Warsaw-based alcohol producer Polmos, which produces vodka under the label "Wyborna Vodka" must stop production of the line and withdraw all Wyborna Vodka bottles from the market. In November 2001 Agros Holding filed a suit against Polmos Warszawa due to the similarity of Wyborna's name and logo to that of Wyborowa. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5) A.Z.