PMI signs Greek oriental deal
Philip Morris International and its affiliate, Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company, have entered into a co-operation agreement with the Greek government for the purchase of Greek oriental tobacco during the next three years.
The Minister of Agriculture, Vaggelis Apostolou, and the CEO of PMI, André Calantzopoulos, signed the agreement in the presence of the Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras.
“Today’s Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Philip Morris International seals the multinational company’s intention to purchase from Greek tobacco growers 30,000 tons of tobacco in the period 2016-2018 as well as the ministry’s commitment to implement policies that will make the Greek oriental tobacco production competitive and of a high quality at an international level,” said Apostolou after signing the agreement.
“It is a clear case of private and public sector co-operation that will bring about significant benefits to all parties and that is supporting to the collective activation and representation of farmers; most of all it adds value to the efforts of the Greek tobacco grower.”
Meanwhile, Calantzopoulos said the agreement reinforced the predictability of the economic environment for the country’s 30,000 tobacco farmers and workers and would help insure sufficient volumes of exceptional quality tobacco for PMI’s worldwide operations. “In these hard times, we remain steadfast in supporting the economy of the country and in exploring more business opportunities,” he said.
In a note posted on PMI’s website, the company said it was of equal importance that the agreement guaranteed continuous improvement of Greek oriental tobacco production ‘through a number of programs, mechanization of the harvest, high yield varieties, innovative curing systems as well as training of tobacco growers’.
Calantzopoulos said PMI and Papastratos had a long history of supporting the Greek tobacco community, and the Greek economy and society, having invested about €700 million since 2003. “Furthermore, as Greece and Papastratos are significant for Philip Morris International, I was happy to announce to the Prime Minister that Papastratos will head a cluster of markets including Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta,” he said.
Christos Harpantidis, president and CEO of Papastratos, who was present at the signing ceremony, said the agreement gave to Greek oriental tobacco farmers a certain level of security, which was very important to them in these difficult times.
“It is yet another proof that Papastratos cares about and supports our country as it has the last 85 years,” Harpantidis said. “With all our actions, we aim to reinforce our presence in Greece but also to further support the country and the Greek society.
“The last few years we have proceeded with significant investments and initiatives including our fight against illicit trade, the investment in new production lines and increased exports as well as our reinforced social contributions program to help those in need.
“We hope that we will be able to inspire other big companies so that all together we can build a better future for the country.”