We are designing a smoke-free future

George Margonis is a general manager of Philip Morris Bulgaria since 2016. He has almost 17 years of experience in Philip Morris International. His career in the company starts at the Sales Department of Papastratos – the Greek affiliate of PMI. During this time he held various positions in Sales, Consumer Engagement and Brand Management. In 2009 he moved to the company’s headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he took the position of EU Regional Manager for Sales Strategies. In May 2014 he was appointed as a Sales & Distribution Director for Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Mr Margonis graduated in marketing and management at the Athens Technological Educational Institute and has a master’s degree in business administration from Kingston University in the UK.

Mr Margonis, Philip Morris has designed innovative tobacco products for years. Could you please tell us more about the realization of this idea?

Today, we observe the biggest shift in the history of the tobacco industry – the transformation towards a smoke-free future. At Philip Morris International we are glad to be the driver of this change with the development of smoke-free alternatives that have the potential to make a difference in lives of millions of smoking men and women. For more than a decade we have focused our efforts and resources on research and development of innovative products that can represent better alternatives to cigarettes and that have the potential to reduce risk for adult smokers in comparison with continued smoking. There could hardly be a more ambitious and challenging goal for a leading tobacco company than to develop smoke-free products in order to replace cigarettes. This is our mission and in order to put it to practice we have involved more than 430 scientists, engineers and other experts representing a wide range of disciplines from materials science and consumer electronics to clinical research and systems toxicology. We are fully committed to creating a smoke-free future and believe that one day innovative reduced risk alternatives will replace cigarettes.