Gay bars across the world are taking a stand against Russia’s recent anti-gay laws by swearing off Stolichnaya, a brand of Russian vodka made from wheat and rye. But there are some pretty good arguments for why the boycott is misguided.

Despite its Russian roots, not all Stoli is produced in Russia. There are two companies with rights to the Stoli brand: The Stoli that most bar-goers in the US, the UK and Canada drink is made by the company SPI based in Luxembourg, which produces the spirit in Latvia. Another is state-owned spirits maker FKP Soyuzplodoimport, which produces and sells Stoli in Russia. Today, activists in Latvia called on the international gay community to give up the ban, and last week, Nikolai Alekseev, a gay activist in Russia called the boycott a “symbolic gesture doomed to failure.”

источник: qzprod.files.wordpress.com

America’s top import from Russia is petroleum products like crude oil, gasoline, ethanol and biodiesel. As Russia tries to boost its role as a major global oil exporter, a drop in US imports of petroleum, which have been increasing over the last decade, would be more painful. But because that commodity has a complex and opaque supply chain, it would be far more difficult to boycott than branded products like Russian vodka.