Philip Morris Ukraine is considering the possibility of starting to export cigarettes from Ukraine, in particular to geographically close countries, said the company’s CEO Maxim Barabash during a roundtable discussion on “Current issues of Ukraine’s economic recovery and the role of state and business structures in this process” at the company’s new production facility in Lviv region.
“There is no potential for growth in cigarette production in Ukraine because it is a fairly stable market. As before the war, the potential lies in exports. We will look at which countries this can be done in,” he said.
Barabash recalled that before the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the factory in Kharkiv produced 20 billion cigarettes, half of which were for export, including to Japan.
“Most likely, due to the war, it will be difficult to resume exports to Japan; it will take more time, but this does not mean that we are not looking at other countries. We can start exporting to geographically close countries first,” said the CEO.
As reported, with the start of the full-scale invasion, Philip Morris was forced to shut down its factory in Kharkiv and invested $30 million in opening a new production facility in May 2024 in the Lviv region, which has five production lines with a capacity of 10 billion cigarettes per year and reached its planned capacity this year.
The company also invested an additional UAH 60 million in the construction of its own shelter on the factory premises for 170 employees and local residents.
According to YouControl, Philip Morris Ukraine increased its revenue by 86.7% to UAH 21.62 billion in 2024, while its net loss decreased by 30.1% to UAH 1.20 billion.
