Could you briefly outline the history of Tabak, its main products and its relationship with Philip Morris?
Tabak was formerly a state-owned company, and the privatization took place in 1992. Thirteen companies participated in the tender, and Philip Morris won not only because of its cash offer for the company, but also because of other commitments such as follow-up investments, modernization, training, and development. So it was a combination of more than one factor which led Philip Morris to be selected. And what has changed since 1992? Almost everything has changed. In those days the company did not have a Prague office; it was based in the factory in Kutna Hora, which is about 60 kilometers from Prague. It is still one of our factories, and in fact is the jewel in the crown of the company. It is where the majority of our investments were made. The first thing we did was to set up a Prague office, which was created in this building but on a much smaller scale. I think we started only on three floors, and now we occupy the whole building. We wanted to set up the kind of departments that ar
