Viktor Nikitin

Viktor Nikitin is a cider professional from St. Petersburg, Russia, and the first Russian to earn Certified Pommelier™ status.

Viktor is a co-owner of Cider and Nancy, one of Russia’s best-known cider bars, founded in St. Petersburg in 2016, and serves as an executive at I Love Cider, a Moscow-based company specializing in cider distribution and education. Drawing on many years in the cider industry and extensive travel, Viktor sees cider as an international language of love and peace that unites people across cultures.

A few years ago, he unexpectedly found himself in the middle of Russia’s growing cider industry. As he traveled, he discovered the same pattern in many other parts of the world — in Australia, New Zealand, and South America — where cider was also developing quickly and building its own culture. At the same time, it became clear to him that a thoughtful certification system for cider professionals had been created in the United States, which is why I chose to pursue the Certified Pommelier™ designation.

Certified Pommelier™ Viktor Nikitin earned his advanced certification at CiderCon® 2026 in Providence, RI.