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Putin vodka beats off Kremlin rival: newspaper

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-16 09:26

MOSCOW  – A vodka named after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is struggling against the popular "Putinka" inspired by his overbearing mentor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a newspaper said Thursday.

A vodka named after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is struggling against the popular "Putinka" inspired by his overbearing mentor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, seen here in 2007, a newspaper said Thursday. [Agencies]

"Medvedeff" vodka hit the shelves last month but has not caught on like "Putinka," which appeared shortly after Putin became president and now has 4.4 percent of Russia's vodka market, the Vedomosti business daily reported.

"Unlike Putinka, Medevedeff sounds a bit non-Russian, non-popular, it doesn't have the same kind of oomph," marketing expert Alexander Yeremenko was quoted as saying, referring to the French-sounding -eff ending of the name.

Putin remains a vastly more popular politician than Medvedev, who only came to power in May after Putin's eight years as president, and is seen as soft-spoken and professorial compared to Putin's more macho leadership style.