Philip Morris International, one of the leaders in the global and Ukrainian tobacco market, currently considers it unsafe to resume production at its factory near Kharkiv (Dokuchayevske village, Kharkiv district, Kharkiv region) and plans to launch alternative production in the country, said Philip Morris International (PMI) President for Europe Region Massimo Andolina.

"We consider it our duty to launch our own alternative production, where we could resume the production of our goods in Ukraine," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Andolina explained that one of the reasons is the desire to independently produce their product in Ukraine.

"And secondly, because we want to signal our commitment to Ukraine and that even in wartime we are ready to invest in Ukraine," the PMI representative said.

He clarified that the company is currently actively looking for these alternatives.

"And I hope that we can soon announce investments in the launch of alternative production facilities until we have the opportunity to return to Kharkiv region," he said.

According to him, when the war started last February, the first thing the company did was to immediately stop production at its factory in Kharkiv region, where frequent shelling continues to this day.

"Unfortunately, this factory does not have a bomb shelter. Therefore, it would be dangerous to return our workers to the factory under these conditions ... The life of our people is an absolute priority, so the factory has been stopped for now," Andolina explained the impossibility of resuming the factory's work today.

He pointed out that after the shutdown of the factory, PMI supplied Ukraine with products from eight of the company's plants abroad for a certain period of time. However, then, in search of a solution that would allow the production in Ukraine, an agreement was signed on the production of the company's goods at the facilities of the Imperial Tobacco company in Kyiv, where they are now produced.