Government office chief János Lázár said two weeks earlier that British American Tobacco and Tabán Trafik would be awarded the concession for a fee of 600 million forints (EUR 1.9m).

Imperial Tobacco Magyarország, JTI Hungary and Philip Morris Magyarország said that in the absence of an open tender they would offer to pay an incremental annual fee up to 6 billion forints for the concession. They noted that the concession could earn the holder an annual 16 billion in profits.

Lawmakers approved last year an amendment that would establish a single company, licensed by the state, to buy tobacco from wholesalers and sell it to retailers. Hungary introduced a state monopoly on tobacco sales in 2013.

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