Imbibe 75 People to Watch: Roman and Maryna Pelekh

Kyiv, Ukraine

Starting a craft distillery is hard enough. Starting one in a war zone to make a spirit that’s been lost for almost a century is another challenge altogether. But the founders of Kontapel kontabas aren’t fazed. Married couple Roman and Maryna Pelekh started the process of opening Kyiv’s first craft distillery shortly before the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Their product: a spirit flavored with blackcurrant buds—not berries—replicating a centuries-old Ukrainian drink that disappeared during the Soviet period. “As the British have their whisky and the French their Cognac, we also have a great drink that is very unique,” Roman says.

A year of army service for Roman and the unsettled atmosphere of a nation at war—plus the difficulty of sourcing sufficient amounts of fragile blackcurrant buds—slowed Kontapel’s early progress, but the distillery opened in 2023 and is now producing in earnest, its spirit embraced by Ukrainians and soon, the Pelekhs hope, the rest of the world.

“We want to change the perception that in Ukraine the first drink you think about is vodka,” Maryna says. “We would like for people to associate Ukraine’s national drink with kontabas.” Kontapel’s flavor is botanical and earthy yet utterly unlike more familiar spirits—a fitting match for Ukraine’s strong, distinct national identity.

Click here to read more about some of 2026’s other Imbibe 75 People and Places to Watch.

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