The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) of Ukraine has included in the list of “international sponsors of the war” two of the world’s leading tobacco companies – Philip Morris International (USA) and Japan Tobacco International (Japan) – due to continued cooperation with Russia. This was reported by the press service of the NAPC.
“Some of the most famous and largest tobacco companies in the world continue to work in Russia and replenish the budget. That is why the NAPC has included the leaders of the tobacco market Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International in the list of international sponsors of the war.
Referring to the financial statements of the Russian division of Philip Morris, NAPC reported that the company’s revenue in 2022 grew by 8%, and net profit – up to 48.2 billion rubles, which is 45% more than in 2021. “Having confidence in the economic potential of Russia, the company is implementing a large-scale long-term investment program. So, since 2017, more than 14 billion rubles have already been invested. in the localization of the production of an innovative product – tobacco sticks for IQOS – on the territory of a factory in the Leningrad Region,” the ministry said.
Japan Tobacco International, according to NAPC, remains the leader of the tobacco market in Russia with a share of 34.9% and generates about 11% of the country’s consolidated income.
“Although representatives of both companies have announced their plans to close business in Russia, stop new investments and marketing activities in Russia, they still continue to manufacture and distribute products in Russia,” the agency noted.
Earlier, the Ukrainian list of “war sponsors” included British Unilever (brands Domestos, Lipton, Ax, Dove), confectionery manufacturer Mondelez (Oreo, Alpen Gold, Milka, Toblerone), Austrian group Raiffeisen Bank International , French retailer Auchan Holding, Hungarian bank OTP, Xiaomi, Geely, Bacardi and other international companies. In June, Ireland’s Peninsula Petroleum was removed from the register because it “fulfilled all the necessary conditions, choosing the path of a socially responsible business.”
The Chinese company Alibaba, the owner of the AliExpress marketplace, was the last to enter the register . According to Kyiv, the profit of the Russian subsidiary Alibaba.com (RU) for the past year amounted to 16.3 billion rubles. (about $160 million). Another reason was the sale of “copper exported from the occupied territories of Ukraine.” The NAPC claims that the copper alloy was purchased by the Chinese company Quzhou Nova from the Debaltsevo Metallurgical Engineering Plant. The NAPC also accused Alibaba of censoring pro-Ukrainian content, citing the blocking of an unnamed Ukrainian streamer as an example.
Source : RBC
