Harrods department store has continued to sell premium Russian vodka Beluga under the counter, despite removing it from display and replacing it with brands from Ukraine, Poland and Belgium.
Harrods and other stores stopped selling Beluga last week as retailers came under pressure not to sell Russian products. However, staff have confirmed that bottles are kept under the counter and sold when requested. According to The Times:
However, it emerged today that staff sold the vodka, which retails at £100 for 1.5 litres, from behind their kiosk where the bottles were stored. The retailer says it was a “mistake” and the vodka has now been removed from the site.
The upmarket Beluga brand has largely disappeared from shelves across the UK, with Waitrose and Harvey Nichols among the retailers to stop selling it.
However, the product is still being sold openly in Selfridges on Oxford Street.
Yesterday in parliament, the Labour MP Chris Bryant, who is chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Russia, condemned shops still selling Russian products or operating in Russia.
Addressing the Commons, Bryant said: “Can I ask for a debate on those who are not really pulling their weight in delivering sanctions on Russia over Ukraine?
“Because lots of shops in the UK have now withdrawn Russian products from their shelves, but if you still want to buy a £150 bottle of Beluga vodka, for instance, you just go to Selfridges — it’s on the shelves; if you go to Harrods, you actually have to ask for it and it’s underneath the counter, literally underneath the counter.”
McCarthyism is alive and kicking in the UK.
I’m amazed that nobody has yet suggested that the bank accounts of ordinary Russians living and working in the UK be frozen.
Give it time.
