In the spring of 2016, an unusual bar called "Bartender Dictatorship" opened in the center of Kyiv. Its owners gathered the best bartenders in Kyiv and gave them complete control of the establishment. However, the bartender dictatorship lasted only a month. The shake-and-stir specialists quickly fell out and everything went haywire.

The owners of the bar – Fozzy Group founder Volodymyr Kostelman and former bartender Kyrylo Kyslyakov – were forced to take back control and manage the establishment themselves.

The Dictat bar is famous not only in Ukraine. The establishment is a favorite of writer and actor Stephen Fry and former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when they are in Kyiv. The bar has no sign; it's located in a basement, in one of the inconspicuous courtyards of Khreshchatyk Street. The net profit of the legal entity managing the bar in 2024 amounted to 34 million hryvnias, according to YouControl data. It was almost the same amount the previous year.

The bar is directly managed by co-owner Kirill Kyslyakov, who is nicknamed "Santa" for his love of treating visitors. The correspondent LIGA.net I spoke with Kyslyakov about what it's like to create a bar that will be popular for a decade. And also about being a partner with Kostel'man, situational cocktails, and how Kyslyakov almost closed the bar during the war.

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Anthony BlinkenBarman Dictat