The world’s second largest cigarette maker, British American Tobacco (BAT) has opened a new, HUF 7.5 billion (EUR 22.6 million) production line at its factory in Pécs.
“Hungary and Central Europe have becoming the growth engines of the continent, in which investments in regional cities have played a major part,” said Péter Szíjjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, at the inauguration of the new production line.
The Minister said that Pécs was one of the regional cities which has been revitalized by recent investments: in the first quarter of this year alone, foreign direct investment amounted to HUF 23 billion (EUR 69.5 million), a 44 percent increase compared with the same period in 2018.
BAT acquired the Pécs tobacco factory in 1992 and has since invested over HUF 40 billion (EUR 120 million) in it and last year it posted a net profit of HUF 5 billion on sales of HUF 138 billion. The new investment will also mean an additional 100 local jobs.
Photo credit: origo.hu