Some international companies not only continue to operate in Russia, but are also ready to continue to make money from the war by killing Ukrainians. Among them, Philip Morris International is one of the leading companies. Not only has it not left Russia, but it continues to sponsor the war in Ukraine, making huge profits and paying huge taxes to the budget of the terrorist country.
“And this is not surprising, because Philip Morris International is closely connected with the ruling elite of the Russian Federation. The fact is that the current Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, former Chairman of the State Duma, Sergei Naryshkin, was a member of the Board of Directors of Philip Morris Russia for about 10 years,” said in an interview with investigative journalist Yevhen Plinsky Dmytro Kupyra, executive director of the NGO “Life”.
So it is clear that the company has the most favorable conditions for conducting and developing its business in the terrorist country and continues to make super profits.
“Philip Morris International paid $7 billion to the Russian budget in 2022 alone. Thus, this tobacco company is one of the largest transnational sponsors of the Russian budget – the budget of the war against Ukraine,” Kupira stated.
Two years ago, Philip Morris’ management announced its intention to leave the Russian market and sell its Russian business in order to preserve its reputation. However, all the “attempts” to sell the Russian business seem to have failed, and the corporation still remains one of the largest taxpayers to the Russian budget, the money from which is used to support the war against Ukraine. Moreover, the company backtracked on its words and admitted that it may never leave the Russian market, where it has such “high” patrons and the most favorable business conditions.
There can be no excuses for international tobacco companies that are still filling the coffers of a terrorist state. It looks especially cynical when they hide behind taxes paid in Ukraine, which is not commensurate with the amounts poured into the Russian budget, which are used to produce weapons to kill Ukrainian citizens and destroy Ukrainian cities.
The Kyiv School of Economics has estimated that the money Philip Morris International earned for Russia in 2022 could buy 4,900 Kalibr missiles, 78 fifth-generation Su-57 fighters, or 1,089 T-90 tanks.