Bulgartabac Holding

In 1947, the Bulgarian state established a tobacco monopoly, an entity that would become Bulgartabac Holding. For decades, it operated as a state-owned enterprise, dominating the domestic market and exporting heavily, particularly to the USSR. By the late 1980s, its factory capacity reached 75 billion cigarettes, far exceeding domestic consumption. Following the fall of communism, Bulgartabac was restructured into a holding company in 1993, comprising 22 joint-stock companies with the state as the predominant owner. The company's modern story is defined by its privatization. After numerous delays and failed attempts, the pivotal moment came in September 2011. An 80% stake was sold for €100.1 million to BT Invest, an Austrian-registered firm connected to Russia's VTB Bank. This made Bulgartabac a private company. However, the sale was complex, with reports suggesting the true new owners were influential Bulgarian business figures Delyan Peevski and Tsvetan Vassilev, who allegedly used the Russian bank as a front. This new chapter led to a significant reshaping of the company. In 2017, in a deal worth over €100 million, British American Tobacco (BAT) acquired Bulgartabac's leading brands and its distribution network. This transaction marked the end of an era for the former state monopoly, transferring its core cigarette business to a major international player and fundamentally altering its structure and market position.