Established in 1938, Stoli Vodka has long been a fixture on the liquor market, though it appears it will need more than its legacy to carry it into the next generation.
Stoli Group has revealed that its U.S. subsidiaries, Stoli Group USA and Kentucky Owl, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and while the reasons behind the decision are diverse, one stands out: Stoli USA says a ransomware attack played a role.
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A November filing contends that an August attack on the firm prevented the U.S. subsidiaries from complying with their lenders’ reporting requirements. According to the CyberRisk Alliance, the attack was “not widely reported and has not been claimed by or attributed to any specific ransomware group.”
Recent reports add that the attack took down Stoli’s ERP system, which led to the company employing time-consuming and costly manual workarounds in areas like accounting. They say the systems will not be fully restored until at least Q1 of 2025.
But it’s certainly notable that Stoli has had other issues.
In a desperate rush to distance itself from its Russian roots after the country’s 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the brand ditched its original name – Stolichnaya – in favor of the shortened Stoli. It’s worth mentioning that the company’s owner Yuri Shefler is a longtime Putin critic and the company actually operates out of Latvia, though its operations have been complicated by Russia’s attempts over the years to claim Stoli as a state-owned business.
Meanwhile, inflation and demand fluctuations have also influenced profitability. All in, Stoli says these factors combined have resulted in the company’s accumulation of $84 million in debt.
Sophos latest State of Ransomware study contends that the cost of recovering from a ransomware attack has increased 50% over the past year – to an average of nearly $3 million per incident.
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