The Romanian branch of British cigarette maker Gallaher has announced the start of some 4 million euros of investments intended to help boost its market share from around 1% at the moment to around 3-4% by the end of the year.
"After less than a year since our entry on the Romanian market we are already very pleased with the way the market is responding to our cigarettes. Our market share is now somewhere in the region of 1% and keeps going up. The investments will be allocated to the development of the distribution system and to supporting our brands so that we can boost our market share to some 3-4% by the end of the year," says Dan Crisan, the general manager of the Romanian branch of the company, Gallaher Austria Tabak.
Gallaher sells the medium and lower-end brands Saint George, LD, Ronson, Stateline and Memphis on the Romanian market and recently launched the high-end brand Sobranie at 200,000 lei/pack.
"There is a market for such expensive cigarettes, where a cigarette becomes an accessory," added Crisan.
Gallaher opened its Romanian subsidiary two years ago and has kept a relatively low profile on the market ever since. It worked previously with Papastratos before the latter was acquired internationally by Philip Morris for certain brands.
After attempting to buy production facilities from Societatea Nationala Tutunul Romanesc (National Romanian Tobacco Company) on two occasions, Gallaher in the end entered Romania by buying Papastratos'' facility in Bucharest, where it has since invested several hundred thousand euros in manufacturing equipment.
Unlike the major multinationals that dominate the international market - JTI, BAT and Philip Morris, which make "American blend" cigarettes (a mix of 60% Virginia tobacco, plus 30% Burley and 10% Oriental) - Gallaher makes an English type of
