by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Greece's largest tobacco company has turned over a new leaf after 87 years in business, shifting production from cigarettes to smoke-free products, it was announced on Wednesday during the inauguration of a new production line just outside the capital.

As of Wednesday, Papastratos, a subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI) since 2003, no longer manufactures cigarettes, but instead makes tobacco sticks used in PMI's device IQOS which heats tobacco instead of burning it, PMI CEO Andreas Kalantzopoulos said.

E-cigarettes and other products which replace classic cigarettes have scientifically proved less harmful, tobacco executives argued. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected PMI's claim that its heat-not-burn tobacco product cuts the risk of tobacco-related diseases.

The transformation of Papastratos factory at Aspropyrgos industrial zone is a 300-million-euro (368 million U.S. dollars) investment expected to create at least 400 new jobs and boost Greek exports, Papastratos CEO Christos Charpantides said during the event.

By 2019, the factory is expected to produce some 20 billion tobacco sticks which will be distributed across Europe and Asia. More than half of the cigarettes produced were also for the export market.

Papastratos employs some 800 workers before the new investment.