Philip Morris has said that it might expand its production in Ukraine after suspending business in Kharkiv Oblast at the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, reports Yahoo News.

The facility in Kharkiv Oblast has remained shut due to the lack of a bomb shelter at the facility. Massimo Andolina, President, Europe Region at Philip Morris International (PMI) said that PMI had initially supplied Ukraine with products from abroad and later signed an agreement to produce its products at the facilities of the Imperial Tobacco in Kyiv, reports Yahoo News.
Now, PMI has said that it feels it has a duty to “launch our own alternative production, where we could resume the production of our goods in Ukraine.”
Andolina said the company wished to independently produce its products in Ukraine and furthermore wants to signal its commitment to Ukraine. He said the company was actively searching for alternatives and added: “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 Oblast.”
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, PMI had initially said it would withdraw from the Russian market but announced in February 2023, that it would be “better to keep” its business in Russia than to sell it on Kremlin’s terms, reports Yahoo News.