The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included two tobacco market leaders Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International in the list of international sponsors of the war due to the continuation of activities in the Russian Federation, the agency reported.

"The NACP has included two tobacco market leaders Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International in the list of international sponsors of the war," it said on Telegram.

As reported, according to the financial statements of the Russian division of Philip Morris, the company's revenue in the first year of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine grew by 8% to 140.3 billion rubles, and net profit to 48.2 billion rubles, which is 45% more than in 2021.

"Having confidence in the economic potential of Russia, the company is implementing a large-scale long-term investment program," the report says.

"Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is the undisputed leader of the tobacco market in Russia (34.9% market share). The company itself has openly stated that the Russian market generated about $2 billion in 2022 for JT Group, or approximately 11% of its consolidated income for 2022," the NACP cites data on the activities of the company in the Russian Federation.

"JTI is the largest investor and leading taxpayer in the Russian tobacco industry. Over the past 20 years, JTI's investments in the Russian economy have exceeded $4.6 billion. The company's tax payments in 2020 provided 1.4% of the income of the federal budget of the Russian Federation," the statement said.

The NACP emphasizes that despite the fact that "representatives of both companies have announced their plans to close their business in the Russian Federation, stop new investments and marketing activities in Russia, they still continue to manufacture and distribute products in the Russian Federation."