Des Moines, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds has ordered the state agency that controls wholesale liquor sales in Iowa to pull vodka made in Russia from the for-sale list.
Governors in New Hampshire and other states have also pulled Russian-made vodkas with brand names like Green Mark and Russian Standard from state liquor store shelves. Iowa is one of 17 states that control the sale of alcohol at the wholesales level. Reynolds said barring the sale of Russian-made liquor in Iowa “demonstrates Iowa’s solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom against Putin’s tyranny.”
Reynolds is also calling for ending Iowa’s “Sister State” relationship with the Stavropol region in Russia. Former Governor Terry Branstad helped established that relationship as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began a series of political and economic reforms. Gorbachev was born in Stavropol and Branstad led an Iowa delegation to the region in 1987.
Reynolds also is calling on the Iowa Sister States organization to enhance its relationship with the Cherkasy province, which is in central Ukraine.
