“Courageous steps” towards a “transition” from cigarettes to other products that give the feel of smoking, as well as challenges faced by the global tobacco sector, were the two key points cited on Friday by Philip Morris International CEO Jacek Olczak, who appeared in a Q&A session at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum taking place at the eponymous site in south-central Greece.

The head of the global corporate giant said Philip Morris took the first such steps towards a transition in 2015, plucking down significant investments in R&D in order to ascertain whether it was possible to give smokers the pleasure of smoking without any negative repercussions.

Turning to the host country, Olczak said Greece used to be among the international smoking “champions”, with smokers calculated at more than three million out of a population of roughly 11 million. Nevertheless, he said this number has now been reduced by half a million, in large part to products introduced by Philip Morris and Papastratos, its subsidiary in Greece.

Olczak stayed on this theme, saying consumers in Greece widely accepted tobacco-less products, something that this was somewhat of a surprise, as smokers n the country were considered as “traditional”, with some assessments claiming that they would never abandon cigarettes.

Asked about Philip Morris’ presence in Greece, which number two decades, he reminded that the Greek economy has seen its share of “up and downs” during that time, a course that could have discouraged even the bravest of investors.One reason for the company’s steadfast presence, he said, was the excellent cooperation with Papastratos, the pre-eminent Greek cigarette-maker for much of the 20th century.

Finally, in reference to Ukraine, he said the multinational’s foremost priority is to protect its workforce there, whereas it is cutting back on its commercial activity in Russia, with an aim to soon withdraw.

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