By The End of 2018, BAT Will Have Invested €45m in Croatia

Since entering the Croatian market in 2015, with the takeover of regional leader in tobacco products TDR, British American Tobacco (BAT) will have invested 45 million euro in Croatia by the end of this year.

Diane Caruana

September 11, 2018

BAT disclosed the figure at a press conference following a presentation on its Heat not Burn device Glo, last Thursday. Glo is a battery operated smokeless alternative to combustible cigarettes and works by heating sticks containing tobacco leaves. These refills which look like short cigarettes, must be inserted into the device and are heated up once it is switched on.

BAT’s director for the Adria region, said that Croatia has become the company’s headquarters in the area.

BAT bought Rovinj Tobacco Factory (TDR) in mid-2015 for €505 billion from one of the biggest Croatian companies, Adris Group. BAT had agreed that the production of tobacco products at this factory would continue for five years after the acquisition, and they are currently being exported to 25 EU countries.

At the press conference, Antal Bekefi, BAT director for the Adria region, said that Croatia has become BAT’s headquarters in region. He added that the tobacco company has been investing significant funds into research and development since 2012, investing over $2.5 billion in new-generation products.

BAT also invested 800m in its Romanian factory

In line with this, last June, BAT announced that it would be investing 800 million euros to bump up the production of its Glo Neostiks in its factory in Ploiești, Romania. This investment, which will be spread over the the next five years, is expected to generate approximately 200 new jobs, and will go towards building a new manufacturing hall for BAT’s Neosticks. This will result in the creation of an additional 7,000 sq m of production space, which will turn this factory into the sole supplier of glo Neostiks across Europe.

Read Further: Total Croatia News