Stores in more than 1,400 communities will get another chance to join the state monopoly that will control retail sales of tobacco products from July, the Budapest Business Journal reported.

Roughly 15,600 applications to join the state monopoly were received by the initial 22 Feb deadline, however no submissions were received from 1,417 communities, the journal reported on its website. National Tobacco Trade Nonprofit, the agency setting up the monopoly, will issue another tender inviting applications in those communities from which nothing was received, the journal said. Sales are to be restricted to state approved outlets from 1 July. (pi)