Controversies

Criticism over Russian operations

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention placed JTI on its international sponsors of war list, citing the company’s Russian business and alleged contributions to Russian public finances. The company was removed from the list in July 2024, but its continued Russian operations remained controversial.

JTI staff protest job cuts in Geneva

Public backlash

In 2019, around 80 Japan Tobacco International (JTI) staff gathered outside the company's Geneva headquarters to raise concerns about job cuts and the proposed resettlement package. The staff criticized the package as below accepted standards and complained about management's lack of transparency regarding the cuts and future plans. The protest highlighted employee dissatisfaction with both the compensation offered and the level of information provided by the company.

Around 80 JTI staff gathered outside the company's Geneva headquarters to raise concerns about job cuts and the proposed resettlement package. Staff criticized the package as below accepted standards and complained about management's lack of transparency about the cuts and future plans.

Quebec smokers’ class-action judgment

JTI-Macdonald was one of three tobacco-company defendants in a Quebec class action. The court awarded more than C$15 billion to plaintiffs and allocated approximately C$2 billion, or 13%, to JTI-Macdonald. The company disputed the ruling and pursued an appeal.