Franco-Spanish tobacco manufacturer Altadis has set up an agreement with Imperial Tobacco Group which will be effective 1 February 2006, to merge the two companies’ merchandising forces in Russia in order to strengthen both parties competitive position in that market, the companies said in a statement issued earlier in November.

According to the agreement, a joint group of merchandisers is to be set up so that to facilitate the products promotion on the Russian market, extend distribution and enhance the supply of their brands in retail. Alexander Tanachev, Imperial Tobacco Russia’s head of PR and legal issues, says that the joint brand portfolio is fairly balanced in terms of price segments and product types, hence the merger is going to help the two companies to catch up with their stronger competitors on the market. So far, Altadis and Imperial combined account for a market share of 11.5 per cent. Experts view the move as an obvious sign of the forthcoming merger of the two cigarette making groups that are known to have already started merger talks last year, but withdrew from the table later due to uncertainty as to the future of thousands of French and Spanish jobs. (vt)