The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has ordered state liquor store owners to stop selling Russian manufactured distilled spirits. It’s a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The step means about two dozen products, most of them vodkas, are coming off store shelves. State regulators have also barred liquor stores from fulfilling any special orders for Russian-made liquors.
Gaps on shelves represent Russian-made vodkas no longer for sale at Rose City Liquor Store in Northeast Portland on Feb. 28, 2022. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission ordered state liquor store owners to stop selling Russian manufactured distilled spirits as a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Courtney Sherwood / OPB
The sanction does not impact vodkas and other liquors branded with Russian names or symbols that are distilled outside of Russia. That includes more common brands such as Stolichnaya and Smirnoff.
Oregon regulators estimate there are about 5,000 bottles of Russian-made liquor for sale in the state’s 281 liquor stores. Another 6,200 bottles are at the OLCC warehouse and will not be distributed.
In other forms of local protest, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury has asked that the lights of the Morrison Bridge be switched to yellow and blue, the colors of Ukraine’s flag.
And Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he’s looking at ways his state government can put an economic squeeze on Russia. He’s told state agencies to look for any contracts or other business ties to Russia the state can terminate.