Russia's cloaked bids for Polmos Białystok

The Treasury Ministry has received eight offers for Polmos Białystok, including one from the SPI Group from Cyprus, which is most likely connected to Russia's SPI. "We cannot say anything about capital ties between the Cyprian and the Russian company at this stage. However, the SPI Group did say in its bid, that it is the distributor of the Stolichnaya brand," said a Treasury Ministry official. The sale of Polmos Białystok to SPI could have negative political repercussions, as the owner of SPI, Yuri Schefler, was alleged to have been pursued by Interpol and has said that he would not return to Russia as he prefers to run his business from the West rather than from prison. Other bidders for the Białystok distillery include three other Polmoses, Bols and Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC). (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) T.J.