JTI puts new production line in Senta into operation

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) put the new production line at the factory in Senta into operation today, as part of the investment cycle worth USD 7 million.

The cigarette packing line was put into operation by Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic, the vice president of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Istvan Pastor, and the chairman of Japan Tobacco Group, Yasutake Tango.

In addition to the new production line, the new investment of JTI in Senta includes additional modernization of the mechanization at the plant, as well as product innovation.

– With this new production line, JTI continues to expand its operation, thereby showing its long-term orientation to the further growth of the company in Serbia, and it will also contribute to the development of the entire local economy – Tango said.

He said that JTI was dedicated to the partnership with the Government of Serbia and thanked the governments of Serbia and Japan for providing a stable economic environment for the company's operations, especially the Government of Serbia for keeping the excise taxes stable and fighting illegal tobacco trade.

Tango pointed out that the JTI plant in Senta was the most successful of the company's 27 plants in the world and that it successfully promoted Japanese investments.

He reminded that, since the purchase of Duvanska Industrija Senta in 2006, JTI had invested over USD 180 million in Serbia, tripled the number of employees from 84 to 290, started the production of cigarettes and the import to the markets of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Albania, as well as the export of tobacco and cigarettes to the EU.

He added that the imports since 2006 amounted to USD 230 million, and that the company's share in the Serbian market had been tripled.

As he said, JTI is the biggest Japanese investor in Serbia.

– JTI is one of the five biggest taxpayers in Serbia with USD 2 billion paid to the budget from 2006 till 2018 – Tango said, symbolically handing over a plaque with a one dollar bill to Rasim Ljajic, symbolizing the amount the company paid to the budget of Serbia.

Ljajic thanked him and said that Serbia should hand over a plaque to JTI for the contribution to the economy of Serbia, their good treatment of their employees and their contribution to the local community.

He said that the privatization of Duvanska Industrija Senta was one of the examples of a successful privatization in Serbia, as it contributes to the lowering of Serbia's foreign trade deficit with its exports.

He added that the investments in the tobacco industry of Serbia amounted to EUR 1.2 billion and the the industry employed 10,000 people, including tobacco producers.

As he said the total exports of the tobacco industry amounted to EUR 255 million last year, and the foreign trade surplus amounted to EUR 65 million.

Ljajic said that the Government of Serbia did a lot in countering illegal tobacco trade and that the state budget lost EUR 300 million annually due to the shadow economy.

JT International a.d. Senta

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

Japan Tobacco International

JTI

Ministry of Trade Tourism and Telecommunications

Rasim Ljajic

Istvan Pastor

Yasutake Tango

JTI plant in Senta

Duvanska Industrija Senta

JTI production line in Senta

production of tobacco

tobacco