Coca-Cola in Russia, it's almost over

The Russians will have to do without the famous American drink.

Coca-Cola had already announced in March its withdrawal from Russia, without providing further details.

It is now the turn of the bottling company, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC) to announce the cessation of its activities.

The company will sell its stocks until exhaustion, without renewing them.

In a statement, the group clarified that it “

”.

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This is a first since the 1980s, when Coca-Cola first appeared on Russian territory, on the occasion of the Moscow Olympics.

It was in 1986 that the group set up its first production plant.

Even during the Cold War, Coca-Cola continued to produce and sell its references in the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Today, the company owns ten production sites in Russia, which bottle soft drinks and fruit juices.

In total, the firm employs 7,000 people, mainly young Russians under thirty, representing 44% of employees.

Russian drinks take over American models

Before the war in Ukraine, Coca-Cola HBC had good results, with sales up 18% in 2021, for 2.1 billion liters sold.

Net profit had also increased by 31.9% in 2021, to 547.2 million euros.

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In order to fill the absence of Coca-Cola, some Russian companies have developed alternatives.

For example, on May 16, the Ochakovo brand unveiled a new range of drinks, with "

".

Among the references are the CoolCola, "

", the Fancy or the Street, which strongly resemble their American models.

Other Russian manufacturers have been even faster, such as Slavda, which launched Grink Cola in April, claiming "

" as the original.