Coca-Cola did not completely end its collaboration with Putin’s Russia in the face of public pressure over the invasion of Ukraine, as it seems the business partially owns the company producing a substitute called Dobry Cola.

The new research claims that Coca-Cola Hellenic (HBC), which is the world’s third-largest Coca-Cola bottler, owns a fifth of Multon Partners LLC, based in Moscow, Russia.

Multon Partners, which was an affiliate of the US beverage giant prior to the Ukraine-Russia war, reportedly took over the production of the knock-off drink named Dobry Cola after Coca-Cola pulled out of the country.

Meaning “Good Cola” or “Nice Cola” in Russian, the substitute launched in Russia’s McDonald’s chain that was renamed to “Vkusno i Tochka”, or “Tasty full stop,” at the beginning of October 2022.

This followed after the HBC, which is headquartered in the city of Steinhausen, in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, said in a statement in March 2022 that it had ended all production and sales operations in Russia.

The statement, which was obtained by Newsflash, said: “In close alignment with The Coca-Cola Company, we have stopped all production and sales of brands of The Coca-Cola Company in Russia.

“There are no plans to reintroduce The Coca-Cola Company brands or products in any format.”

Coca-Cola HBC’s Zoran Bogdanovic said: “We intend to have a much smaller operation in Russia, which has been renamed Multon Partners.

“This will focus on the production and sale of existing local brands – Dobry, Rich and Moya Semya – and raw materials will be sourced from within the market.

“It will be managed and operated locally.”

Coca-Cola has made no further statements in relation to the latest claims.