Papastratos donates illegal tobacco detector to ministry

Papastratos, the local affiliate of Philip Morris International, has donated a mobile x-ray scanner for vehicle inspections to the Finance Ministry with the aim of combating the illegal tobacco trade and tax evasion.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis on Wednesday signed the approval of the donation, hoping to reduce the particularly high level of illegal tobacco consumption in Greece, which was estimated at 21.8 percent of all tobacco consumed in the first quarter of the year. The state misses out on millions of euros in taxes every year as a result of the illegal trade.

The scanner will check trucks and containers in trafficking hot spots, such as ports and close to the country’s borders.