Philip Morris International (PMI) is creating a logistics hub to supply Europe with oriental tobacco from a warehouse of affiliate Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company, the company said.

The 58,000 sq m (624,000 sq ft) warehouse in Agrinio, western Greece, is expected to handle about 15,000 tons of leaf when conversion is completed in 2014. Oriental tobacco from Greece, Bulgaria and Macedonia will be distributed to the European Union, Russia and Ukraine, PMI said. An initial shipment of 500 tons arrived this week from Bulgaria.
PMI earlier this year said it would increase purchases of Greek oriental tobacco by 20 per cent in 2013-2015, compared with the prior three years. “Greece is a strategic oriental tobacco location for Philip Morris”, said Papastratos President and Managing Director Nikitas Theophilopoulos.