{"id":667609,"date":"2026-10-11T00:04:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T04:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/?p=667609"},"modified":"2026-10-11T18:20:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T22:20:54","slug":"whos-eyeing-stoli-vodka-owner-accuses-putin-of-plotting-to-seize-his-business-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/667609\/","title":{"rendered":"Who&#8217;s Eyeing Stoli Vodka? Owner Accuses Putin of Plotting to Seize His Business Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-667610 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kl.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"433\" height=\"366\" \/>London:<\/strong> The owner of the iconic Stolichnaya vodka brand, once considered a global symbol and a source of pride for the Soviet Union, has reportedly turned to European intelligence agencies to protect his life and business interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\">Yuri Shefler, the 59-year-old British-Russian billionaire owner of Stoli, one of the world&#8217;s most famous vodka brands, has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Latvian Prime Minister Andris Szekely of conspiring to seize his multibillion-dollar drinks empire. Shefler claims that secret preparations are underway to forcibly take control of his flagship business group, SPI Group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\">According to media reports, the controversy stems from a long-standing dispute with the Kremlin that began in the early 2000s, when Shefler openly opposed President Putin&#8217;s alleged attempts to nationalize his company. The pressure on Shefler reportedly intensified after he publicly condemned Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\">Fearing for his personal safety and business interests, Shefler has reportedly submitted a confidential 22-page dossier to Latvia&#8217;s State Security Service (VDD). In the dossier, he calls for a high-level investigation into alleged secret collusion between former Prime Minister Andris Szekely and Moscow, as well as the serious threats he claims to be facing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\">Shefler alleges that the purported conspiracy is aimed at stripping him of control over his valuable business assets and expanding Moscow&#8217;s influence over his international operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\" dir=\"auto\">The allegations have raised concerns about political interference in international business affairs and the potential use of state influence to target prominent business figures who have openly criticized the Kremlin.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The dispute highlights the continuing tensions between the Russian government and business leaders who have opposed its policies, particularly following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>London: The owner of the iconic Stolichnaya vodka brand, once considered a global symbol and a source of pride for the Soviet Union, has reportedly turned to European intelligence agencies to protect his life and business interests. Yuri Shefler, the 59-year-old British-Russian billionaire owner of Stoli, one of the world&#8217;s most famous vodka brands, has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Latvian Prime Minister Andris Szekely of conspiring to seize his multibillion-dollar drinks empire. Shefler claims that secret preparations are underway to forcibly take control of his flagship business&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":667610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47748],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667611,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667609\/revisions\/667611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}