PMI, Imperial Brands and Japan Tobacco Inc. said they temporarily suspended operations at their plants in Ukraine after Russia began invading the country.

“The safety and security of our colleagues and their families is our primary concern, and we have therefore temporarily suspended our operations in Ukraine,” said Jacek Olczak, PMI's CEO. “Our employees are advised to stay at home or in any safe place and follow instructions from local authorities,” he continued. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
In 2021, Ukraine accounted for around 2 per cent of PMI’s total cigarette and heated tobacco unit shipment volume and under 2 per cent of PMI’s total net revenues. The company has one factory and over 1,300 employees in the country, and has contingency plans in place to restart the supply of products once safe conditions allow, PMI said in a press release.

According to Reuters, Imperial Brands employs about 600 people in Ukraine. “The local team is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will update our people and plans as appropriate,” a spokesperson told Reuters, quoting a memo that was sent to employees.

According to Bloomberg, Japan Tobacco is monitoring developments closely and the safety of all 900 workers at the factory has been confirmed, a Japan Tobacco spokesperson wrote in an email on 25 February. The factory in the central Ukrainian industrial city of Kremenchuk produces cigarettes for the local market. According to Bloomberg, Japan Tobacco had a 37 per cent share of the Russian market as of December 2021.