Ukrainian Wine Producer Fined for Unfair Competition

The Ukrainian Supreme Court has recently upheld the decisions of the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Committee imposing a total of EUR 34,500 (USD 39,000) in fines on the Ukrainian wine producer NVP Niva TOV for violating the local competition protection legislation by using misleading bottle labels and deceptive packaging design in order to indicate the wine’s alleged Italian origin.

In September 2018, the Antimonopoly Committee fined Niva EUR 7,170 (USD 8,100) for using the ‘Prosecco’ designation and a bottle design (left) confusingly similar to that of the Italian wine manufacturer Santero Fratelli & C I.V.A.S.S. SpA (right).

The Antimonopoly Committee also imposed another fine on Niva in the amount of EUR 1,660 (USD 1,880) for providing misleading information on the back labels and bottleneck labels of its “Champagne of Ukraine Brut”. The labels featured the colors of the Italian flag and indicated that grapes of Italian origin were used for making the wines.

Finally, in October 2018, the Antimonopoly Committee fined Niva EUR 25,650 (USD 29,000) for including misleading information on the labels of its “Salute Asti Sparkling Sweet White Wine”. These labels also claimed that the grapes used for producing the wine originated in Italy and featured the wording “from Italian producers from Piedmont”.

Niva appealed the Antimonopoly Committee’s decisions, but the Supreme Court ultimately upheld them.

Prepared by: Valentyna Martynenko

For more information, please contact ukraine@petosevic.com.

Source: Ukrainian Antimonopoly Committee website