Jameson is no longer exported to Russia but businesses have sourced supplies in neighbouring states. Photo: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg

Pernod Ricard, the French-headquartered alcohol conglomerate and owner of Irish Distillers, is preparing to permanently close its Russia representative office.

A report in the Russian business daily Kommersant yesterday said Laurent Pilet, who has run the operation since 2019, is being moved to another region. Ignaty Arakelyan, the former Armenian Agriculture Minister who has led the French conglomerate’s Yerevan Brandy Factory, will oversee the termination of the business.

Sources cited by Kommersant suggested most of the Pernod Ricard team have already left while the remaining employees may leave before the end of this month.

A Moscow market insider suggested that it was fraught with risks for the French conglomerate to retain an office in Moscow while sales of its Jameson, Chivas, Absolut and Beefeater are booming from “parallel imports” via third countries.

“It’s not a good look for these big Western multinationals to maintain boots on the ground in Moscow while all their product is coming in covertly via the back door,” said the market insider.

A spokesperson for Pernod Ricard, told the Irish Independent he wasn’t in a position to comment on “local information.”

“In the context of the yearly internal moves, the former CEO of Pernod Russia has been appointed to a new role in another region,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

Jameson owner Pernod Ricard resumed exports of its international brands into Russia but was forced to climb down in April this year following strong international condemnation.

However, a probe this month by the Irish Independent reveals that there are now large stocks of Jameson, Bushmills, Tullamore Dew, Baileys and other Irish spirits brands in all of Moscow's major supermarkets and off-licence chains. Guinness and Kilkenny are also back on draught at several of the city’s famed Irish pubs after a hiatus of a year.

Photos sent this week by an Irish businessman from the upmarket Gastronom No. 1 at the GUM mall on Red Square showed a full array of Irish whiskey for sale, including Jameson, Bushmills and Teeling.

Supplies of Western spirits and beer are being sourced via neighbouring Kazakhstan and Georgia. Customs records from the Trade Data Monitor platform show that the amount of alcohol Georgia exports to Russia surged by more than 120% since the invasion of Ukraine.

Chris Weafer, the chief executive of the consulting firm Macro-Advisory, said the fact that Irish goods, supposedly not supplied to Russia, are still available is not because the manufacturers are avoiding sanctions or ignoring their own voluntary ban.

“Moscow operates a so-called ‘parallel import’ scheme which allows Russia importers to source products in other markets and to import them for sale in Russia,” said Irishman Weafer, who lived and worked in Russia for 24 years. “The scheme provides legal protection, in Russian courts, against any action, such as copyright infringement, by the manufacturer.”