Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) cut cigarette shipments in Ukraine by 12.1% in 2017, to 19.356 billion cigarettes.

According to an annual report of PMI published on Thursday that the total cigarette market in Ukraine in 2017 fell by 8.2%, to 67.1 billion, mainly due to the impact of price increases and an increase in the prevalence of illicit trade.

According to the company, in Q4 2017, the total cigarette market in Ukraine narrowed by 3.8%, to 16.4 billion mainly due to price hikes.

Shipment of cigarettes in October-December 2017 grew by 0.8%, to 4.83 billion.

The share of Philip Morris of the Ukrainian market in 2017 fell by 1.9 percentage points (p.p.), to 27.3%. The share of the Bond Street brand fell by 1.6 p.p., to 8.4%, Marlboro – by 0.1 p.p., to 3% and the share of other brand – by 3.6 p.p., to 9.6%.

The share of the Parliament brand grew by 0.3 p.p., to 3.2% and the share of the Philip Morris brand as 3.1%.

Philip Morris International is one of the world's largest manufacturers of tobacco products. It produces cigarettes at more than 50 factories and sells them in 180 countries.

In Ukraine, the company has been operating for more than 20 years. It produces goods at a factory in Kharkiv region.