BAT Expanding in Serbia

BAT is expanding in Serbia, reports SeeNews.

“We are very pleased and very happy with the business environment in Serbia,” said Jorge Araya, head of BAT’s South-Eastern Europe division.

According to Araya, the company plans to expand its Serbian manufacturing capacity by 20 percent and export approximately half of its domestic production.

In 2003, BAT bought Duvanska Industrija Vranje. By late 2020, it had invested €270 million ($290 million) in the factory.

BAT’s competitors in Serbia include the local units of Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International.

Araya said BAT is the only tobacco company competing locally in all new category products. Its portfolio covers not only heated-tobacco but also herbal products, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, he said.