BUDAPEST: British American Tobacco (BAT) and Hungary’s Tabán Trafik will be awarded a concession to supply retail tobacco shops, Cabinet Chief János Lázár said at his regular weekly press conference yesterday.
The two companies will act together as middlemen between manufacturers and retailers for the next few years, and the National Development Ministry has been authorized to enter into a contractual agreement with them, Lázár said.
The bill approved by Hungarian Parliament mid-december on the establishment of a centralized distribution company for tobacco products would cause the dismissal of 1,200 Hungarians who work in the business, Lajos Csizmadia, the spokesperson of the tobacco workers union (DDTSZ) told the Budapest Business Journal earlier.