Bulgartabac Looking to Lift Exports to Middle East

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 04/05/2012

Bulgaria's largest cigarette manufacturer, Bulgartabac, plans to export 15.5 billion cigarettes to countries of the Middle East this year and to increase its exports to the region by seven per cent in 2013, according to a Novinite story. Seven per cent is a relatively modest target given Bulgartabac's record in the recent past. The company said in a statement that it had achieved double digit growth in its exports to the Middle East each year since 2008: by 45 per cent in 2008 and 2009, by 115 per cent in 2010, and by 25 per cent in 2011. The formerly state-owned Bulgartabac was sold by the Bulgarian government to a subsidiary of the Russian bank VTB for €100.1 million in September. It completed 2011 with a net profit of BGN31.3 million - about €16.5 million. Enditem