Star Agritech International (SAI) is officially showing interest in the potential privatisation of Agroduhan d.o.o. in Slatina, Croatia, the company said in a press release.

A successful acquisition of Agroduhan would cause the company to relocate all of its European business operations and assets to Slatina making it the new European Headquarters of SAI.
The tobacco industry in Croatia and the crop size has been declining over the past several years. Major tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco (BAT) are leaving the Croatian market due to negative trends in the industry. “Therefore, the country needs a catalyst to regenerate the tobacco sector,” SAI said. The Istanbul-based agriculture company has indicated its interest in the potential privatisation of Agroduhan. Accordording to the press release, a programme proposal for the post-privatisation has been prepared with the aim of applying the following strategies:
• The first goal is to increase the quantity and quality of the tobacco production in Croatia. Additionally, expanding tobacco varieties grown in Croatia such as shisha type would support the country’s decreasing trend in the Industry.
• SAI also aims to invest in the RECON (Reconstituted Tobacco) production line of Agroduhan.
• In addition, if SAI is successful in the acquisition of Agroduhan, SAI would consider to move its current European Operations Headquarters from Antwerp, Belgium to Slatina, Croatia from where it would sell tobacco products to its large EU client base.