Cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International (PMI) continues its investments aimed at transforming the Otopeni factory into a manufacturing unit for consumables for IQOS, the electronic tobacco heating system developed by the company. The amount allocated for the next two years exceeds USD 100 million.

Since 2017 (when the transformation process of the Otopeni factory started) until now, the company has invested USD 500 million in developing of manufacturing capacities, training the employees and implementing sustainability solutions. Of this amount, nearly USD 100 million was invested this year alone.

The investments of over USD 100 million scheduled for the 2022-2023 period are aimed at developing the production capacity and expanding the product portfolio, which will include consumables for IQOS ILUMA, the latest generation device recently launched by PMI. At the same time, the investments will target strategic sustainability goals as the factory aims to achieve a neutral carbon footprint by 2024.

”PMI’s vision is to deliver a smoke-free future and replace cigarettes with reduced-risk products that – although not risk-free – are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. The Philip Morris Romania factory in Otopeni is at the center of the strategy behind this vision, along with seven other factories around the world that produce consumables for IQOS. Of these, only three are located in the European Union (Romania, Greece and Italy)”, according to the company.

As a result of the investments made so far, the factory in Otopeni has been transformed from a cigarette factory into one that produces consumables for IQOS. Over 300 new jobs have been created since 2017. Today the factory has more than 950 employees.

”We are fully committed to replacing cigarettes with better alternatives to smoking, and the further investments in the coming years clearly demonstrate this. The USD 500 million invested so far and the emphasis on the development of the smoke-free products category have made the total value of exports of these consumables comparable to Romania’s cigarette exports. We are glad that, through the investments so far, we have managed to put Romania on the map of innovation and to offer hundreds of millions of smokers around the world a better alternative to continuing smoking”, said Daniel Cuevas, Managing Director, Philip Morris Romania.

92% of the factory’s output is exported to 54 markets spread over five continents, and 8% covers the domestic consumption, where PMI owns a market share of roughly 80% of the heated tobacco products category in the third quarter of 2021. During the same period, the IQOS consumables represented 3.4% of the total cigarettes and heated tobacco products market in Romania.

”To continue investing, we need legislative predictability as well as a balanced fiscal framework that fosters innovation. Non-combusted tobacco and nicotine-based products should be taxed according to their health risk and exposure. Combusted products and cigarettes are the most harmful form of tobacco consumption and should be taxed the highest, in order to encourage smokers to quit smoking and for those who don’t quit, to switch to better alternatives of consuming nicotine. An increase of the heated tobacco products excise duty has a real potential to undermine the development of the heated tobacco category that currently is successfully helping adult consumers to switch away from cigarettes. This would be detrimental to public health”, added Dragoș Bucurenci, Director External Affairs, Philip Morris Romania.

Article supported by Philip Morris Romania.

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