Fifth Avenue Trading has told its customers it is temporarily suspending its business activities.

Fifth Avenue, one of Europe’s leading distributors of Cuban cigars, has announced that it has been forced to temporarily suspend its operations.

In an email sent to German cigar retailers on Friday, September 4, the company said it was no longer able to accept new orders or ship goods. It cited restrictions affecting its banking relationships as part of a “compliance and sanctions review” concerning one of its shareholders.

The message, signed by Fifth Avenue Managing Director Christoph Puszkar, refers to a “temporary restriction of our business activities.”

The announcement comes just over a month after Chen Zhi was added to the European Union’s sanctions list, following similar measures by U.S. and UK authorities in October 2025 that caused similar disruptions at British importer Hunters & Frankau and Tabacalera USA. Both companies had to wait several months before obtaining licenses allowing them to resume operations.

Chen Zhi’s addition to the EU blacklist represents a major change for EU companies linked to Tabacalera/Habanos: the risk, until now primarily associated with U.S. and UK sanctions, can now be directly taken into account by banks operating in the EU.

Fifth Avenue said it was working “with external experts” to restore its operations as quickly as possible.

Banking “de-risking”

The announcement comes several months after the first banking difficulties experienced by various companies within the Habanos ecosystem.

In March, L’Amateur de Cigare revealed that Fifth Avenue was among the companies facing the unilateral closure of bank accounts amid precautionary measures taken by banks in connection with the Chen Zhi case. At the time, we reported that several financial institutions had begun “de-risking” measures, preferring to terminate certain business relationships rather than assume what had become an excessive legal or reputational risk.

A shareholder targeted by sanctions

The September 4 letter specifies that the compliance and sanctions review concerns “one of our shareholders” (“einen unserer Gesellschafter”), without naming the individual or entity.

According to information filed with the German commercial register last October, Altabana, Habanos S.A.’s vehicle for its stakes in distributors, is the majority shareholder (80%) of Fifth Avenue, while the German-Swiss Villiger Group holds a 20% minority stake.

Following the difficulties experienced by Tabacalera SLU, Habanos S.A.’s 50% co-shareholder, Fifth Avenue is the first company in the network to publicly acknowledge that its operations have been brought to a standstill.

In June, specialist website Nicotine Insider reported that Pacific Cigar Company (PCC), Habanos’ exclusive distributor for the Asia-Pacific region, had also experienced major banking difficulties in the wake of the sanctions against Chen Zhi. The company’s invoices were transferred to Tang Tobacco Limited, its 50% shareholder, which is not subject to the sanctions. PCC declined to comment at the time.

Contacted by L’Amateur, Christoph Puszkar referred us to Habanos S.A.’s communications department, which was not immediately available for comment when this article was published.

According to the latest figures available, Germany was Habanos S.A.’s fifth-largest market in 2024, behind China, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Laurent Mimouni

Update. Statement from Habanos S.A. on Sept 9: “Habanos S.A. is working closely with its distribution partners worldwide and taking all necessary steps to safeguard business continuity, strengthen the resilience of its distribution network and ensure the continued availability of its products to aficionados globally. (…) Habanos S.A. does not comment on specific circumstances or individual business matters concerning companies within its distribution network.”

Read also our analysis: “The EU’s Sanctions Against Chen Zhi Come After the Battle”