New “ATOMIK” Chernobyl Spirits to help Ukrainian refugees

Newswise — The Chernobyl Spirit Company will support Ukrainian refugees and communities with profits from the first 850 bottle batches of its two new premium fruit schnapps. The spirits are 5x distilled in Ukraine from pears and plums harvested last autumn from districts affected by the Chernobyl accident and now partly under Russian control.  

The company started sales of its Apple Spirit last autumn and has donated £15,000 – all its profits so far – to the Ukrainian refugee appeal. At least 75 per cent of all future profits from the social enterprise will go to supporting refugees and the recovery of communities in Ukraine. 

In a unique scientific experiment, Ukrainian and British scientists showed that slightly radioactive products from the zone could be distilled to make spirits with levels of Chernobyl radioactivity below what they could measure. They’ve since gone a step further and are selling spirits in the UK via their website www.atomikvodka.com

The University of Portsmouth’s Professor Jim Smith and his Ukrainian colleagues have set up a social enterprise – The Chernobyl Spirit Company – which has worked with the famous Palinochka Distillery in Ukraine to produce a range of unique spirit drinks. The drinks are distilled from apples, pears and plums from the Narodychi and Ivankiv Districts, areas affected by the accident and now by the Russian invasion. 

Professor Smith said: “Having spent my career working on the consequences of Chernobyl I’m horrified to see the much worse impact of the Russian war on Ukraine. Our social enterprise aims to support communities affected by Chernobyl, many of which are now under Russian occupation.” 

The Persha Zakarpats’ka Palyncharnya Distillery Director, Viktor Feer, who participated in the emergency response to the Chernobyl accident is proud to be part of this project. Feer said “ATOMIK Spirits are premium 5x distilled fruit schnapps (“Palinka” in Ukrainian): they are robust but smooth with clear hints of the sun-ripened fruit harvested during last year’s beautiful Ukrainian autumn.”

Dr Gennady Laptev, also a Chernobyl emergency worker and now in Kyiv with his wife and 86 year old father, said: “We hope our social enterprise will help people affected by the devastating social and economic impacts, first of the Chernobyl accident and now of the war.” 

Source: University of Portsmouth

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