Recently, there was some good news: Ceetrus, which owns and operates nearly 300 shopping centers in Europe, has entered into an agreement to sell its assets in Russia. Ceetrus is part of the French Auchan group. After protests and boycotts took place across Europe demanding that Auchan leave the Russian market, it finally happened.
The same actions are required of other companies, including the international giant Philip Morris. Last year, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption recognized Philip Morris International as an international war sponsor, although the register has not been closed. But that doesn’t change the fact that Philip Morris International continues to operate in Russia, sponsoring with tax dollars the bullets, chess pieces and chessmen that kill Ukrainians. In 2022, the company paid 8 billion to the Russian budget and has the status of one of the largest donors to the Russian military budget, writes Vladimir Gorkovenko in his blog.
Philip Morris does not even hide his involvement in the murders of Ukrainians. They openly express support for Putin and violate international law by calling Crimea Russian territory. Not stopping there, they are lobbying for a 20% reduction in the excise tax on e-cigarettes and sticks in Ukraine, determined to enrich themselves at the expense of Ukrainian citizens.
In addition, Philip Morris Ukraine was so brazen that it began to actively promote a 20% reduction in excise duty on e-cigarettes and sticks in Ukraine. It is this company that has a monopoly position in this market. This raises doubts and is seen as an attempt at sabotage. In such difficult times, when the country is facing huge financial challenges, the multinational corporation decided to reduce budget revenues, which are already suffering from the war, in this way. A 20% reduction in excise duty in a time of war means tens of billions of hryvnias in the state budget.
If you try to find out what kind of assistance Philip Morris provided to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, you won’t find it. More precisely! The only message that Volodymyr Horkovenko found was that the company had sent a batch of cigarettes to Ukrainian soldiers in 2022. And that’s it! All the company’s reports are only about “humanitarian aid”. And don’t tell me that this is not done on purpose to avoid pissing off Russia! They say we are helping the victims, but not the Armed Forces.
Over the two years of the full-scale invasion, 400 million hryvnias have been spent on this “humanitarian aid”. At least that’s what the reports say. For such a company with its excessive profits, it is a pittance. Their advertising budgets are measured in tens of billions of dollars. Philip Morris has spent several billion dollars on aggressive IQOS advertising alone. Even the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine last year launched a case against Philip Morris Sales and Distribution LLC for disseminating unconfirmed information that the use of IQOS systems poses less of a health risk.
In addition, Philip Morris spends huge amounts of money to discredit his opponents and critics. The cost of negative PR campaigns is not inferior to the amount they spent on “humanitarian” aid in the amount of 400 million hryvnias. For example, when searching for information about the excise tax on e-cigarettes, one goesogle materials that mention MP Yevhen Petruniak in a negative light.
However, a thorough investigation reveals that the situation with MP Yevhen Petruniak is not so simple. This politician actively supports raising the ad valorem excise rate by 25%, which was ruthlessly reduced back in the days of Viktor Yanukovych. This led to a loss of state budget revenues. Who do you think took advantage of this? Philip Morris, of course. On the contrary, they are trying to deprive Ukrainians of their money by lobbying for a reduction in excise duty.
Volodymyr Horkovenko writes that I did not unequivocally state that the company was behind the compromise of MP Yevhen Petruniak. But it looks like that’s where the threads are coming from. He is struck by something else: a transnational corporation doing something as insignificant as blackmail. Meanwhile, they are not worried at all about leaving the Russian market and stopping financing the war against Ukraine. Because we will end this war, and Philip Morris will remain in history as a bloody sponsor of the Russian war against Ukraine.