British American Tobacco reported a 7-percent profit increase for 2006 on Thursday and said it would significantly expand both its annual dividend and its share buyback program.

The factory is being built by Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which bought the Senta-based tobacco processing plant in 2006. JTI brands such as Winston, Camel, Monte Carlo and others will become domestic brands. Tamer Tecirlioglu, general manager of JTI in Senta, stated that Serb tobacco would be at the basis of their production, although initially it would be sent to the company’s European blending centres, and added that other non-tobacco raw materials would be imported from Europe. According to him, the new factory will employ about 100 workers over a three-year period, and approximately Euro 500,000 will be set aside for employee training.
In addition to the Euro 27.5 million that the company paid for the factory in Senta, it also plans to invest Euro 70 million in modernisation, the expansion of production and the finalisation of tobacco processing. The Senta-based factory for the processing of raw tobacco is the largest of its kind in Serbia, processing 40 per cent of domestic tobacco production with which it supplies both domestic and foreign factories. (cen)