Philip Morris International

European governments are weighing the introduction of tougher rules on cigarette makers' new zero-tobacco heat sticks, moving to close the loopholes they were designed to exploit just months after their launch.

Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey's prominent conglomerates, has applied to the Competition Authority to sell its stakes at two tobacco companies to its long-time partner Philip Morris International (PMI).

"Our world changes when each one of us changes for the better," Papastratos believes. The fact that they were recently awarded as one of the world-changing companies, in the annual "Change The World" survey, certifies that these are not just words, but that they put into practice their commitment to a sustainable, cigarette-free world.

Greece has the highest rate of contraband cigarettes in the European Union, which cost the state coffers 690 million euros in revenues last year, as KPMG's "Stella Report," commissioned by Philip Morris International, reveals.

With a growing number of smokers switching to IQOS, a tobacco-heating device which delivers a nicotine hit without actually burning the tobacco, the Papastratos production facility in Aspropyrgos is playing a significant role in turning the country into a major export center for Philip Morris International, Andre Calantzopoulos, the chief executive officer of US multinational Philip Morris Inte

Philip Morris International, the manufacturer of the iQOS tobacco heating unit, will invest in the creation of a call center in Bulgaria, Christos Harpandis, Managing Director for Southeastern Europe, told Money.bg. The new call center is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2019. The company has not yet decided whether it will be in Sofia or another city in Bulgaria.

Greek tobacco giant Papastratos's new production plant was officially launched on Wednesday at Aspropyrgos in western Attica by the chief executive officer of Philip Morris International, Andre Calantzopoulos, and Papastratos chairman and CEO Christos Harpantidis.

A future without smoking is possible, Philip Morris International CEO Andre Calantzopoulos tells Kathimerini in an interview in which he notes that "today we have the scientific and technological ability to offer smokers better alternatives that have the potential to reduce the harmful consequences of smoking."

After 90 years of producing conventional cigarettes, Greek tobacco firm Papastratos is planning to turn its plant in Aspropyrgos, western Attica, over to the production of the IQOS heat-not-burn tobacco product.

As part of its campaign to combat the trade of illegal tobacco, Philip Morris International has developed a pioneering application for checking whether packs of cigarettes bearing the logos of the company and its subsidiary Papastratos are genuine.