The sight of Russian investors perusing vineyards in the famous Cognac region of southwest France has locals suspicious of their motives and wary of their financial backers.
The chairman of the Cognac business association BNIC, Alain Philippe, has two hypotheses.
"Either the Russians are coming here to look for good business opportunities, which I have nothing against, or they want to justify the sales of false cognac on the pretext of having bought a few hectares of vineyards," he said.
Cognac is a brandy made in accordance with strict production rules, distilled over many years and produced from the vineyards surrounding the French town of Cognac.
The problem in Russia, where the market for brandy is growing fast, is that any brandy can be labeled cognac, damaging the reputation of the original French version and compromising its exclusivity.
Philippe said that about 10 cognac producers have "made a pact with the devil" by working with the Russians, whom he suspects of wanting to use the name to legitimize their fake "cognac" brandy in Russia.
His worries do not stop there.
"I am not casting aspersions, but I fear the worst, because behind this market [in Russia] there is the mafia," he said, adding that the entry of Russia in the WTO would be an opportunity to protect the cognac brand name.
Russia is the largest economy in the world that is not yet a member of the WTO, which obliges members to respect intellectual property rights, but negotiators hope the country can finally complete the process this year.
The manager of cognac producer Jenssen in Bonneuil, Epsen Schulerud Soland, stressed that the possible arrival of the mafia in the cognac-producing region was "a real threat, but that one must make a point of not confusing it with others."
Last July, the Moscow-based wine and spirits company MVZ bought a stake in Jenssen, a Norwegian-owned group, and is to complete a takeover of the company and its 24 hectares of vines by the end of this year.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS