12:45 - 23.02.2023

---

February 23, Fineko/abc.az. American tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) will prefer to keep its business in Russia rather than sell it on unfavorable terms for shareholders.

ABC.AZ reports that company's executive director Jacek Olczak stated about this in an interview for The Financial Times on Wednesday.

"I can't just lose patience and give it all up. This is the shareholders' money, not mine, and I manage this money in their interests. If I had a buyer who could carry out the necessary transactions, then yes, we would go for it, but there is no such thing," Olczak stated.

In the October financial statements, the company estimated the value of assets in Russia at $2.6 bn.

According to the top manager, "there is no hope" that they will be able to be sold on acceptable terms. For this reason, Olczak believes that "it is better to save everything".

He stressed that this is a forced measure, since all attempts to exit business in Russia without excessive losses, undertaken by Philip Morris in 2022, failed. At the moment, the company has frozen investments in new projects in the Russian Federation and reduced the scope of its activities.