Philip Morris International (PMI) began distributing USD 100 million (EUR 84 million) under its PMI Impact programme to combat illegal trade by selecting 32 projects to receive funding, the cigarette maker said.

About USD 28 million was allocated to public, private and academic organisations in 18 countries, PMI said. The European Union and neighbouring countries were the target region in the first round. “Many projects go beyond tackling the illegal tobacco trade to explore the nexus between organized crime, terrorism, online and offline trafficking, and the interdependencies between different forms of illegal trade,” PMI said.