Gorbachev Name Boosts Vodka Sales
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BONN — Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, pursuing a relentless campaign against alcohol in his own country, has unknowingly boosted sales of a vodka bearing his name in West Germany, a company spokesman said Friday.
While demand for other vodkas has slumped this year, sales of the Gorbatschow brand have rocketed by more than 22% since the new Kremlin chief came to power and widened the producer’s market share from around 14% to 20%.
The name of the vodka company, founded by a Russian emigrant in Berlin in 1921, is the same as the German transliteration of the Soviet leader’s surname.
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