Business Wire

Philip Morris International Announces New Regional Leadership

18.6.2026 10:00:00 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share

The appointments strengthen the company’s leadership pipeline as it moves towards a smoke‑free future

Philip Morris International (PMI) (NYSE: PM) announced a series of regional leadership appointments that support its ongoing shift toward a smoke‑free future.

Effective August 1, 2026, Marco Hannappel has been appointed President, Europe Region, and Can Kuterdem has been appointed President, Latin America & Canada Region. These appointments build on PMI’s evolved organizational model announced in late 2025, under which Gijs de Best serves as President, South Asia, Indochina, CIS & Middle East & Africa Region, and Vassilis Gkatzelis continues as President East & Southeast Asia, Pacific and PMI Global Travel Retail Region. The four regional presidents report to Frederic de Wilde - CEO of the International Business Unit of PMI and are the key operational leaders for the unit that generates the large majority of total PMI net revenues.

Marco Hannappel takes over the role of President, Europe Region, succeeding Massimo Andolina, who was recently announced as PMI’s Group Chief Financial Officer, both effective August 1, 2026.

Hannappel brings extensive international experience and a strong track record in leading business growth across complex and highly regulated markets. Since joining the company in 2019 as President and Managing Director Italy, he has held several senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility. He later served as Area Vice President Southwest Europe, managing Italy and Iberia, and most recently, as President of the Latin America & Canada Region.

Can Kuterdem is appointed President, Latin America & Canada Region, effective August 1, 2026, succeeding Marco Hannappel.

Kuterdem is a seasoned business leader with strong general management experience and a people-centric leadership approach. Most recently, as Managing Director, Poland, he transformed one of Philip Morris International’s largest European markets into a multi-category business, driving growth and strengthening organizational engagement. Previously, he served as Vice President Strategy & Program Delivery, Europe Region, where he played a central role in shaping the regional strategy and leading a more integrated approach to execution of business-critical initiatives across markets.

Before joining the company in 2020, he built an international career in consulting and technology, including The Boston Consulting Group and Samsung, where he held senior leadership roles across multiple regions.

Gijs de Best was appointed President, South Asia, Indochina, CIS & Middle East & Africa Region in January 2026. He brings more than 20 years of leadership experience at the company, with a strong track record of driving business performance through consumer-centricity and a passion for developing teams. He began his career at PMI in 2004 as a financial analyst in the Netherlands and has since held a range of increasingly senior roles across multiple markets and regions, most recently as President, Philippines, and Vice President Strategy & Program Delivery.

Vassilis Gkatzelis continues as President, East & Southeast Asia, Pacific and PMI Global Travel Retail Region, a role he assumed in 2024, with expanded accountabilities for Southeast Asia as of 2026. He oversees a diverse set of markets spanning developed and developing economies, alongside the Global Travel Retail business.

Since joining the company in 2003, Gkatzelis has held a wide range of strategic and operational leadership roles across Europe, the Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and the Global Operations Center in Switzerland. He brings a strong track record leading business transformation at scale, and building high-performing organizations, with a focus on external engagement and talent development. Prior to his current role, he served as President Director of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk., PMI’s affiliate listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, as well as Managing Director of Egypt & Levant Cluster, where he led the build-up and scaling of the smoke-free business.

These appointments reflect Philip Morris International’s continued focus on strengthening leadership capabilities as a leading global consumer goods company. Earlier in 2026 Philip Morris International evolved its organizational model and implemented two new primary business units in addition to its wellness unit Aspeya, reporting to Group CEO PMI Jacek Olczak - PMI International under the leadership of Frederic de Wilde, CEO PMI International, and PMI U.S. – under the leadership of Stacey Kennedy, CEO PMI U.S.

Philip Morris International: A Global Smoke-Free Champion

Philip Morris International is a leading international consumer goods company, actively delivering a smoke-free future and evolving its portfolio for the long term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company’s current product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, nicotine pouch, and e-vapor products. Our smoke-free products are available for sale in over 105 markets, and as of December 31, 2025, PMI estimates they were used by over 43 million legal-age consumers around the world, many of whom have moved away from cigarettes or significantly reduced their consumption. The smoke-free business accounted for 43% of PMI’s first-quarter 2026 total net revenues. Since 2008, PMI has invested over $16 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate and commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would otherwise smoke, with the goal of completely ending the sale of cigarettes. This includes the building of world-class scientific assessment capabilities, notably in the areas of pre-clinical systems toxicology, clinical and behavioral research, as well as post-market studies. Following a robust science-based review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of Swedish Match’s General snus and ZYN nicotine pouches and versions of PMI’s IQOS devices and consumables - the first-ever such authorizations in their respective categories. Versions of IQOS devices and consumablesand General snus also obtained the first-ever Modified Risk Tobacco Product authorizations from the FDA. With a strong foundation and significant expertise in life sciences, PMI has a long-term ambition to expand into wellness areas. References to “PMI”, “we”, “our” and “us” mean Philip Morris International Inc., and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260618517768/en/

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

L&T Technology Services Global EI Hackathon Sparks the Next Wave of AI-Native Engineering Solutions11.7.2026 13:35:00 CEST | Press release

Nearly 4,000 participants across 770+ teams from nine global locations became a part of the 24-hour innovation challenge L&T Technology Services (BSE: 540115, NSE: LTTS), a global leader in Engineering Intelligence Solutions & ER&D Consulting Services successfully concluded Engineering Intelligence (EI) OpenHack 2026, a first-of-its-kind global innovation challenge conducted simultaneously across nine locations spanning India, the U.S. and Europe. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260711573331/en/ LTTS Global EI OpenHack at the Munich office The hackathon brought together nearly 4,000 engineers (770+ teams) from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Vadodara, Mumbai, Dallas and Munich to tackle complex engineering challenges through AI-led innovation. More than 500 challenge statements were aligned with company’s strategic growth priorities, spanning Software Defined Mobility, Plant Buildout & Modernizati

Samos Energy Acquisition Corporation Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering10.7.2026 15:32:00 CEST | Press release

Samos Energy Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering (“IPO”) of 20,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and trade under the ticker symbol “SAMO.U” beginning on July 10, 2026. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “SAMO” and “SAMO.WS,” respectively. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as the sole book running manager for the proposed offering. The Company has granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units at the IPO price. The public offering is being made

Onera hPSG® Wins Prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award10.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Onera Health's patch-based home polysomnography solution, Onera hPSG®, was awarded the renowned ‘Red Dot Award: Product Design 2026’ in recognition of the sensors’ innovative design, advanced functionality, and user-centric engineering. Onera Health, a leader in transforming sleep medicine, announces that its innovative product, Onera hPSG®, has been honoured with the prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award for 2026. This international recognition celebrates exceptional design quality and underscores Onera Health's commitment to excellence, creativity, and patient-centric innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260710266668/en/ Onera Health's patch-based home polysomnography solution, Onera hPSG®, wins Prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award 2026. The Red Dot Award, one of the most sought-after seals of quality for good design, attracted thousands of entries from around the globe. Onera hPSG® stood out f

teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Welcomes Over 1 Million Visitors within 9 Months of Opening10.7.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release

teamLab Biovortex Kyoto has welcomed over 1 million visitors as of July 6, 2026, 9 months after its grand opening. (*1) These visitors arrived from more than 150 countries and regions. International visitors account for approximately 42% of the total. Many of these international visitors travel from distant countries and regions, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Approximately 30% of these international visitors purchase their tickets at least 30 days in advance. teamLab Biovortex Kyoto is teamLab's largest museum in Japan, with an average visitor stay of over two and a half hours. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709913938/en/ teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Welcomes Over 1 Million Visitors within 9 Months of Opening *1 According to ticket purchase data from the official teamLab Biovortex Kyoto website (survey period: October 7, 2025 – July 6, 2026) Visitors Comment (M

Robbyant Launches LingBot-VA 2.0 Built Natively for Embodied AI and Physical World Control10.7.2026 08:48:00 CEST | Press release

Robbyant, an embodied AI company within Ant Group, today announced the release of LingBot-VA 2.0, the industry’s first embodied-native video-action world model. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709654440/en/ A robot powered by LingBot-VA 2.0 engages in a real-time tabletop air hockey match with a human This release marks a key transition in robotics foundation models, shifting from repurposing digital world models to designing them natively for the physical world. Instead of relying on fine-tuned digital content generation models, LingBot-VA 2.0 is built from scratch to meet the original demands of dynamic modeling, causal prediction, and real-time execution in physical environments. Integrating world models with embodied AI has been one of the major focuses of the AI industry. However, most mainstream approaches rely on video generation models designed for digital content, which are then fine-tuned for robo

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye