On November 20, this year BAYADERA GROUP brand celebrates 33 years. The group meets this age against the background of enormous difficulties, but despite everything, it manages not only to keep its positions among Ukrainian consumers, but also to expand its presence in foreign markets.BAYADERA GROUP General Director Anatoly Korchinsky told Forbes BrandVoice about its strong positions in Ukraine, growing recognition on the shelves of foreign markets, increasing imports and support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

What difficulties has BAYADERA GROUP been overcoming on a daily basis for more than 2.5 years?

The war affects every aspect of doing business in Ukraine: the purchasing power of all categories of customers, cooperation with retail outlets, supply chains, and the speed of production of products and packaging. In addition, due to the massive internal migration of Ukrainians, the sales structure has changed, so we had to take this into account quickly to ensure that, first, consumers had a quality product despite the move, and, second, that we did not lose in the pace and volume of sales. It is not easy to work, but BAYADERA GROUP is developing not only thinking about today, but also planning for the medium-term future. To make this possible, we quickly accepted the new reality and began to build processes in this paradigm. Since mid-2022, a new stage in the development of the alcohol industry has begun, namely: imports, exports, and most importantly, Ukrainian production have grown.

What are the indicators of BAYADERA GROUP in the Ukrainian market in 2024?

Already in the middle of 2022, the company's sales reached the figures of 2021, and today we consistently hold a strong position in the domestic market in the vodka category. Now BAYADERA GROUP covers 35% of the domestic market. Our Ukrainian plant (called the National Vodka Company) produced 89 million bottles of vodka products in 2023. Of these, 42.7 million are HLIBNY DAR. This year, the production rate has significantly increased - 124 million bottles of vodka products were produced in the first 8 months of the year. As production grows, so does the amount of taxes paid, which has a positive impact on the Ukrainian economy.

Since 02/24/2024, BAYADERA GROUP has paid UAH 10.9 billion in taxes and fees. According to the State Tax Service, our holding is the largest taxpayer among the country's alcohol industry.

Today, business in Ukraine is not only about increasing turnover and paying taxes, but also about social responsibility and supporting the army. How is BAYADERA GROUP involved in this?

The holding continuously supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This includes multidirectional financial support for the army, regular coverage of their urgent needs and rehabilitation of the military. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have allocated over UAH 79 million for these purposes. The holding buys and delivers cars, drones, quadcopters, diesel generators, thermal imagery devices, medicines, medical supplies and equipment to the frontline.

  A new page in foreign sales.

How have the holding's export figures changed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and what are they now?

Since the beginning of the Great War, BAYADERA GROUP has become the second largest Ukrainian exporter of vodka with a 20% share. Until February 2022, we were ranked third.

The presence of the company's products in other countries is gradually increasing. Foreign buyers are more actively getting to know our products, tasting them and making their permanent choice on them. If we compare the first 9 months of 2024 to the same period in 2023, we can see the following changes: in our largest foreign market, Poland, we achieved an increase of almost 200%, in Germany - 70%, in the Czech Republic - 50%, in Israel - 275%, and in the UAE, we gained a huge growth of 400%.

Our beverages continue to win prestigious awards at international competitions, most recently, Avocado Vodka won a gold medal at the Warsaw Spirit Competition, and KOBLEVO XO and VSOP cognacs were awarded silver medals. 

What new countries has BAYADERA GROUP discovered for sales?

These are Greece, where the first delivery of Harvest Day and Avocado vodkas took place, Taiwan, where we sent KOZAK GIN and AIR vodka, as well as Oman, Qatar and Korea.

What about new distributors? If sales abroad are growing, it is logical that you expand the pool of distribution partners.

That is exactly right. We have started cooperation with four new distributors in the UAE. We also attracted new partners in Spain, Korea, Moldova, New Zealand and Kazakhstan. In addition, the holding  has showed achievements not directly related to revenue.

For example, the Harvest Day brand was listed in the largest Dutch chain Gall&Gall, and the Hlibny Dar brand, according to Nielsen (an international marketing company), has been ranked second in the Estonian market for the third year in a row. In addition, Harvest Day Spiced Vanilla won the Canadian monopoly tender, and Finland became the country of monopoly for KOBLEVO wines. And finally, the company's products are about to appear in duty-free zones in three more European airports: Warsaw, Vilnius and Klaipeda.

What new geographies does BAYADERA GROUP now cover?

The latest successes include the launch of KOBLEVO wines in Bulgaria and Turkmenistan, the first delivery of NIKITA vodka to Iraq, Aliko wine to China, Kozak vodka to Canada, KOBLEVO wines, OXYGENIUM vodka and MARENGO ITALY sparkling wine to Poland. In the Baltic markets, the vodka brand HLIBNY DAR introduced new exclusive flavors: Spiced Vanilla, Cranberries, Wild Berries, and Avokado vodka is about to be delivered to Cyprus.

Increased imports and new contracts despite the war

Against the background of growing product exports and successful sales abroad, how does the holding work with the direction of importing to Ukraine?

We are really increasing not only exports. Imports are also growing as part of the Bayadera Elite business unit, which unites the company's import business. Today, the BAYADERA GROUP holding covers a 15% share of the Ukrainian import market of alcoholic beverages. The fact is that we did not slow down even in 2022. Back then, even though we were forced to shut down for the two hottest months after the start of the full-scale invasion, we managed to bring our performance close to the level of 2021. In 2022, we sold 3.59 billion UAH of imported products against 3.89 billion UAH in 2021. In 2023, the figures increased further, reaching UAH 5.86 billion. This year, we expect even higher revenue of about UAH 6.68 billion.

How has the holding's import portfolio expanded?

The expansion is ongoing. We have signed contracts with Maspex Group, which produces Zubrowka, Soplica, Becherovka brands, as well as with Fever Tree, Barbera and a number of other manufacturers. We are developing further.

Read the full text of the interview with the CEO of BAYADERA GROUP in FORBES https://forbes.ua/company/rovesnitsya-nezalezhnosti-yak-bayadera-group-33-roki-zrostae-razom-z-ukrainoyu-31102024-24478