Mykhailo Polyakov, deputy general director for corporate relations of Philip Morris Ukraine, stated during the event “Dialogues with NV about the future: Business and war” that for Philip Morris International, importing cigarettes from Poland is 10% cheaper than their production in Ukraine.
He reminded that in May 2024, Philip Morris International opened a new factory in the Lviv region. The company recently compared the costs of producing cigarettes at the Lviv factory with those at the factory in Krakow, Poland.
“We are currently working in a cluster where Poland is the main market. It is more expensive to produce in Lviv for Ukraine than to produce in Krakow and bring to Ukraine.” Polyakov noted.
According to him, this difference is due to the fact that there are more personnel reserves in Poland, and the risk of the absence of male workers due to mobilization is much lower. In addition, the Lviv factory is forced to stop work during air strikes, and problems with energy supply also remain relevant for Ukraine.
“In the summer, this issue (supply of electricity – IF-U) was very relevant. A lot of enterprises were relocated to Lviv region. The electricity supply system was not designed for such a large number of enterprises.” – emphasized the representative of the company.
Polyakov also noted that the curfew creates additional difficulties for employees who cannot work outside of it, even with special permits. Philip Morris Ukraine does not have such passes, which increases costs.
“All this imposes additional costs. Therefore, it is 10% cheaper for us to produce cigarettes in Poland and bring them to Ukraine.” – summarized the deputy general director of “Philip Morris Ukraine”
Philip Morris International has been working in Ukraine since 1994, having invested more than $700 million. In May, the company opened a new factory in the Lviv region, where five production lines capable of producing up to 10 billion cigarettes per year will be launched by the end of 2024, creating 250 new jobs.
