OREANDA-NEWS Masamichi Terabatake, Chief Executive Officer of Japan Tobacco, said that the company will keep its business in Russia to satisfy investors, his words are reported by the Financial Times.

"If, for example, I say that we are going out of business, investors may face the risk of losses. In the worst case, there is even a risk of litigation with shareholders," he said.

Initially, Kopania announced the possibility of selling its business in Russia, but in the end it simply suspended all investment and marketing activities. According to Terabatake, the country accounted for about 20 percent of the company's total profits.

Japan Tobacco started business in Russia in 1999. The company sells cigarettes of both international brands such as Winston and Camel, as well as domestic ones, including Russian Style and Kiss. Japan Tobacco remains one of the largest foreign companies in Russia – it has four factories and more than four thousand employees. In 2023, the company's total profit amounted to three billion dollars.