• Outreach in connection with the Stolichnaya vodka brand in light of ongoing U.S. trademark litigation. Outreach related to the report submitted to Congress by the Department of Treasury pursuant to Section 241 of the Combatting Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and its consequences on SPI Group and its principal owner, Yuri Shefler. To strengthen DETER Act, S. 2785, to protect human rights and rule of law.

Duration: February 27, 2018 to December 31, 2018

General Issues: Beverage Industry, Government Issues, Copyright/Patent/Trademark

Spending: about $230,000 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2018: House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, State - Dept of (DOS)

Affiliated organizations: ZHS IP Americas Sarl

Related Foreign Entities: SPI Group S.a.r.l. (Luxembourg City, LUX); contribution to lobbying: $0; ownership 100%; Yuri Shefler (Luxembourg City, LUX); contribution to lobbying: $0; ownership 99%; SPI Group S.a r.l. (Luxembourg City, LUX); contribution to lobbying: $0; ownership 100%; Yuri Shefler (Luxembourg City, LUX); contribution to lobbying: $0; ownership 99%