Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin plans to launch his own beer brand in Russia with a producer owned by Arnest, a group that has rapidly expanded by buying the Russian businesses of departing Western companies.
The OVI range will be produced by Bochkarev Breweries and is expected to go on sale before the end of 2026, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday. It will include a classic lager, a lower-alcohol lager and an alcohol-free beer, priced at about 100 rubles ($1.18) per can.
The venture brings together one of Russia’s best-known athletes, whose support for President Vladimir Putin has drawn renewed criticism abroad, and a company that has become a major beneficiary of the Western corporate exodus since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“I have long wanted to create my own beer, one that I would enjoy drinking myself,” Ovechkin said in comments supplied to Kommersant by the brewer’s press office. He said he preferred pale beers with a clean, balanced taste.
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