BAT sells its business in Russia and Belarus to members of its Russian management team

British Amercian Tobacco (BAT) has announced the sale of its businesses in Russia and Belarus to a consortium led by members of the BAT Russia management team, according to a company statement.

The transaction will be completed within the next month, "once certain conditions have been met" and, upon completion, the companies will be renamed ITMS Group.

In March 2022, BAT already announced that the Russia business was "not sustainable in the current context" and that its intention was to transfer it.

Throughout the entire operation, one of BAT's priorities has been the interest of its workers in Russia and Belarus. Thus, the agreement reached contemplates that their working conditions remain similar to those they had before the sale, for at least two years from the completion of the operation.

After this transaction, BAT will no longer have a presence in Russia or Belarus and "will not receive any financial benefit from ongoing sales in these markets."

Likewise, the company has assured that it maintains "its confidence" in meeting its financial forecasts at the end of the year. BAT closed the first half of the year with an attributable net profit of 3,959 million pounds (4,611 million euros), 112.9% above that achieved in the same period of 2022.

For their part, as reported by the Financial Times this Friday, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and Philip Morris International maintain their operations in Russia, as large tobacco companies "find the country's high smoking rates attractive," the newspaper notes.