Putinka (Russian: Путинка) is a brand of Russian vodka made by the state-owned Moscow Distillery Crystal company. Created in 2003 by Vinexem Brand Manager Stanislav Kaufman,[1] the brand plays upon President Vladimir Putin's name.[2]
The brand is owned by businessman Arkady Rotenberg, a close confidant of Putin, though Putin has no formal involvement in the production of Putinka.[3] Putinka was formerly one of the most popular vodka brands in the Russian market, though the brand's popularity began to decline in 2016.[4]
Vodka Putinka has received many different awards. In 2004, the advisory council of "Superbrand" chaired by Alexander Shokhin awarded it the title of vodka "Superbrand of 2004".[5] In 2011, the company behind Putinka registered a trademark for a liquor named "Commendatore Muammer" in honor of Muammar Gaddafi.[6]
By 2016, the brand began losing popularity, with the market share slipping from 4th to 15th among vodka brands in the Russian market in 2016.[4]
Amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the producer applied for registering the letters “Z" and “V”, both of which correspond to military symbols used in the war, in a request to Rospatent.[7]