Country Overview
Key Facts
Number of Employees: Approximately 800
Main Brands:
Marlboro, Assos, Philip Morris, L&M, Muratti, Chesterfield, Zante
Welcome to Papastratos AVES, Philip Morris International’s affiliate in Greece, the largest tobacco company in the country, producing many well-known cigarette brands, such as Marlboro, Philip Morris and L&M as well as Greek brands such as Assos and Zante. In 2003, Philip Morris International acquired Papastratos and today approximately 800 people are employed in our manufacturing and administrative facilities.
In May 2009, we inaugurated our new factory in Aspropyrgos, an investment of 100 million euro, which is one of the most modern manufacturing sites of Philip Morris International in Europe. Recently, Papastratos obtained a new production line for fine-cut tobacco, an investment of 3 million euro. We also have a tobacco warehouse facility in Agrinio and regional sales offices in Thessaloniki, Patras and Iraklio in Crete.
Papastratos has an active charitable contributions program that takes place across many regions of the country. A key project in 2013 is the funding for heating fuel for schools in tobacco growers’ areas in Northern Greece. In our local community of Aspropyrgos we support the City’s Social Grocery which helps poor families and the homeless.
In February 2013, Philip Morris International signed a Corporation Agreement with the Greek Government that establishes a three-year framework for the purchase of Greek oriental tobacco by the company. The Agreement foresees an increase of 20% in the purchase of Greek oriental tobacco by Philip Morris International compared to the past three years and the adoption of good agricultural practices in order for Greek tobacco to preserve its high quality and to strengthen its competitiveness.
Smoking and Health
Tobacco products, including cigarettes, are dangerous and addictive. There is overwhelming medical and scientific evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other serious diseases.
Addiction
All tobacco products are addictive. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but this should not deter smokers who want to quit from trying to do so.
Secondhand Smoke
Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes serious diseases in non-smokers, including lung cancer and heart disease. We believe the public health conclusions on secondhand smoke are sufficient to support smoking restrictions in public places.
Effective Regulation
Philip Morris International (PMI) supports comprehensive regulation of tobacco products based on the principle of harm reduction.
To be effective, tobacco regulatory policy must be evidence-based, apply to all tobacco products, and should take into account the views of all legitimate stakeholders including public health authorities, government finance authorities, tobacco manufacturers, and other members of the tobacco supply chain. Regulatory policy must consider the potential to trigger adverse consequences which undermine public health objectives, such as increasing the demand for illicit cigarettes.
While we support comprehensive, effective tobacco regulation, we do not support regulation that prevents adults from buying and using tobacco products or that imposes unnecessary impediments to the operation of the legitimate tobacco market. In that regard, we oppose measures such as generic packaging, point of sale display bans, total bans on communications to adult consumers, and bans on the use of all ingredients in tobacco products.