Swiss entrepreneur launches Vodka Zelensky to raise money for Ukraine
By Jan de Boer
With Swiss supermarkets boycotting Russian vodka after the invasion of Ukraine, one Swiss entrepreneur wants to fill the gap in the market - and make a difference as he does it. Tobias Reichmuth hopes to sell one million bottles of the new “Vodka Zelensky” by the end of the year, and donate all the profits to aid Ukraine.
New vodka to raise funds for Ukraine aid
It was when Reichmuth’s good friend, fashion designer Anastasiia Rosinina, fled Kyiv for Switzerland that the idea began to take shape. Together with the designer, Reichmuth launched “Vodka Zelensky”- a premium Vodka named roughly after the embattled president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Reichmuth is most famous for his role on The Lion’s Den - Germany and Switzerland's version of Dragons' Den and Shark Tank. He said that he thought the vodka “might work because people don't want to drink Russian vodka anymore."
The premium liquor will cost 40 Swiss francs a bottle, 10 francs of which will be donated immediately to charities in Ukraine. By 2026, Reichmuth said that all profits made by the company would be donated to help the country rebuild. The vodka itself will be produced in Lucerne and in Germany.
President of Ukraine's wife welcomes fundraiser
Already, the vodka is attracting international attention, with the Foundation for the President’s Wife of Ukraine welcoming the fundraiser. The company hopes that by the end of 2022, the vodka will have raised 10 million Swiss francs in donations.
If you are 18 years or older, and want to join in on one of the number of ways people in Switzerland can help Ukraine, check out the Vodka Zelensky website.
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more