BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR Roustam Tariko has promised to offer stiff competition to Diageo's Smirnoff brand with the launch of his own Russian Standard vodka here yesterday.
Mr Tariko, who has an estimated wealth of $3.5 billion, was in Dublin yesterday for the €3 million marketing launch of Russian Standard at the Shelbourne Hotel.
Mr Tariko said he wanted to take 10 per cent of the €45 million Irish vodka market by the end of this year and ultimately wants to replace Smirnoff as the market leader.
"I want to be the number one everywhere," Mr Tariko said.
Smirnoff is the world's biggest-selling vodka and has a 60 per cent share of the category here, selling in the region of a million cases of the spirit a year.
Mr Tariko said he was confident vodka drinkers would make the switch to his brand, which he said was the only authentic Russian vodka on the market and tasted distinctly different to Smirnoff and other brands.
His vodka sold 1.9 million cases in 2007 and he plans to break the three million barrier this year. It is exported to more than 50 countries. Russian Standard will be pitched as a premium vodka, costing about 5 per cent more than Smirnoff. "The policy is always to price it above Smirnoff," the billionaire said.
Mr Tariko hails from a small village in the Russian republic of Tatarstan. He moved to Moscow at the age of 17 to study and began his business from there.
His business empire now comprises Russian Standard Bank, the country's biggest private bank.
