Kaluga Kristall Distillery starts bottling Mexican tequila, eyes 10% of Russian market

KALUGA. May 26 (Interfax) - LLC Kaluga Kristall Distillery, the key asset of PJSC Kristall Alcohol Group (KAG), has launched a bottling line for Hasta Manana Silver and Hasta Manana Gold tequila, produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco, which is renowned for the beverage, the company said in a press release.

Initially, the plant plans to sell approximately 20,000 half-liter bottles per month in the retail network, rising to 50,000 bottles by the end of 2026. "This plan will give us more than 10% of the Russian tequila market (including imports) as early as the end of 2027. According to data from retail chains, total tequila sales in Russia will rise 10% in 2025 to approximately 5.13 million bottles," the company said.

Pavel Pobedkin, chairman of the KAG board of directors, said the original product - 53.3% ABV tequila - was imported to Russia in special vats, first by sea to St. Petersburg, and then by road in containers. "Here it is diluted to 38% ABV, followed by aeration and bottling. Ultimately, thanks to logistics and the absence of a markup for a global brand, Kaluga Kristall offers the market a product that complies with all international standards and is half the price of imported equivalents at approximately 1,000 rubles per 0.5-liter bottle," he said.

Kristall also plans to produce classic ready-to-drink tequila-based cocktails this summer, he said. The company will disclose details of this project separately.

Kaluga Kristall Distillery LLC, located in Obninsk, Kaluga Region, is one of Russia's top 10 producers of strong alcohol. Products are supplied to 61 Russian regions, as well as to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and China.

Its revenue increased 20.2% to 4.78 billion rubles in 2025 from 3.97 billion rubles a year earlier, gross profit 32% to 1.57 billion rubles from 1.19 billion rubles and net profit 1.7% to 67 million rubles from 65.9 million rubles.

The company's product sales fell by 2.2% to 2.251 million decaliters in 2025. Sales of distilled beverages other than vodka increased almost 60% to 941,000 dal and revenue from their sales rose 60% to 2.2 billion rubles. This company has been diversifying output, increasing the share of high-margin distilled beverages in the sales portfolio. Vodka fell to 61.5% of sales in 2025 from 75.5% in 2024, while distilled beverages other than vodka rose to more than 38% from 24%.

Pavel Pobedkin is the company's beneficiary.