European Tobacco Baku, the largest tobacco manufacturer in the Caucasus region employing nearly one thousand workers, has invested US$ 60 million in Azerbaijan to date, MP Rufat Guliyev, the company’s CEO, told a press conference in Baku.

According to Guliyev, the company’s products are not only sold nation-wide, but also exported to 15 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South-West Asia and the CIS. The plant operating in the nation’s capital since 1 February 2000, has now 24 cigarette brands in its portfolio including the French Gitanes and Gauloises produced under licence, and has made US$ 222 million worth of cigarettes over the six years of operation. For that purpose, over 1,500 tonnes of tobacco leaf have been purchased from local farms. Besides, a tobacco-growing project is being implemented jointly with the Gabala-Tutun JSC. The international group European Tobacco to which ETB belongs operates in 35 countries and has cigarette making facilities in seven countries, Mr Guliyev said at the anniversary ceremony in Baku. (vt)