PMI and Papastratos creating oriental hub to serve EU, Russia and Ukraine

Papastratos’ leaf warehouse at Agrinio, Greece, is to be transformed into an oriental leaf logistics hub for Europe, according to a joint announcement by Philip Morris International and its affiliate, Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing.

The facility, which will become the only PMI-owned logistics hub for oriental tobacco in Europe, will house tobacco from Greece, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia prior to its transport to the company’s factories in the EU, Russia and Ukraine, the announcement said.

Following a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Minister of Agriculture Athanasios Tsaftaris regarding the company’s plans, Papastratos’ president and managing director, Nikitas Theophilopoulos, said, “Greece is a strategic oriental tobacco location for Philip Morris International, and the cooperation agreement we signed last February with the government opened a new chapter in the history of our company in Greece.”

“The conversion of our Agrinio warehouse into a logistics hub for oriental tobacco in Europe is an important next step that will benefit the domestic and international transport sectors, as well as the sector’s exports.

“We hope that this, combined with our overall commitment to investing in Greece, which has exceeded 600 million euros in the last 10 years, will contribute to the country’s efforts to exit the economic crisis.”

The Agrinio warehouse (pictured) covered 58,000 square meters and was located in an area of 250,000 square meters, the announcement said.

The conversion of the warehouse started last week with the delivery of the first 500 tons of tobacco from Bulgaria. It is expected to be completed in 2014, when about 15,000 tons of tobacco will be transported through Agrinio.

The cooperation agreement with the Greek government foresees an increase of the company’s purchases of Greek oriental tobacco for the years 2013 to 2015 by 20 percent compared to those of the past three years.

“This agreement is contributing to the creation of a much more predictable economic environment for the country’s 25,000 tobacco farmers and workers,” the announcement said.