Château Thenac Oligarch Eugene Shvidler sanctioned

This week Oligarch Eugene Shvidler was sanctioned by the UK government, forcing Farr Vintners to stop selling his Château Thenac wines.

Other merchants such as Lay & Wheeler stopped selling Château Thenac wines when they became aware of Mr Shvidler's connections with Russia, but Farr Vintners continued to sell them, even after Château Thenac threatened the UK Wine Show with legal action.

In previous statements by Oliver Lister from Château Thenac, regarding Mr. Shvidler's close links with Roman Arkadyevich he stated that Mr. Shvidler has business or personal ties with anyone that is sanctioned does not imply anything.

However, the Sanctioning documents from the UK government rebut this. It says:

“Eugene SHVIDLER is a longstanding business partner of Roman Arkadyevich ABRAMOVICH, with whom SHVIDLER has maintained a close relationship for decades. SHVIDLER is therefore associated with a person (Roman Arkadyevich ABRAMOVICH) who is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia.”