Creditor: Amber Latvijas balzams delays decisions on its future as finances worsen
Auditor BDO has declined to issue an opinion on the accounts of Amber Latvijas balzams, the maker of Riga Black Balsam, and a decision on the company's future after a failed legal protection process has been postponed. Creditor MBO Beverages is urging management and shareholders to act.
Amber Latvijas balzams (ALB), the Latvian drinks producer that also makes Riga Black Balsam, is in financial difficulty. The audit firm BDO has refused to give an opinion on the company's annual accounts, and a decision on whether the business will continue after an unsuccessful legal protection process has been postponed. This is the position of the company's creditor MBO Beverages, set out in an article in the Latvian business daily Dienas Bizness.
Accounting corrections
According to BDO's report, correcting an error from earlier periods cut retained earnings by 91.61 million euros. The balance sheet, which stood at about 187 million euros in the unaudited report published on the stock exchange in March, fell to 92 million euros after the correction. The auditor concluded that a significant part of the debts owed by related companies, with a gross value of more than 76 million euros at the end of 2025, cannot be recovered. ALB has also guaranteed its parent company's obligations of up to 79.7 million euros. In the 2024 report, almost 16 million euros were written off, and the auditor at that time issued a qualified opinion.
Group problems and tax debt
Other companies in Jurijs Šefler's group are also struggling. The US Stoli Group companies are in insolvency protection, Amber Beverage UK has ceased operations in Britain, and the majority shareholder Amber Beverage Group Holding is in court-supervised reorganisation in Luxembourg. Instead of repaying 30 million euros to bondholders, it has offered them shares in ABG Real Estate, or the option of selling the bonds to Šefler at 35% of face value.
According to the State Revenue Service, ALB's tax debt was 31.77 million euros on 4 November. In 2024 the company was Latvia's 11th largest taxpayer, paying 72 million euros. In the first half of this year, sales volumes fell 38% and turnover 30%, and the company's accounts held just 1,612 euros on 30 June. Production of sparkling drinks has been moved to Lithuania.
MBO Beverages says it has submitted amendments to the legal protection plan and proposed a council of creditors and the majority shareholder, but has received no substantive reply.
