Hungarian Tobacco Companies Boycott ODBE
- 5 Nov 2015 8:00 AM
Multinational tobacco companies Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco and Imperial have not signed an agreement with state wholesale monopoly ODBE, which began operations on Monday. Tobacco retailers can still purchase products from other wholesalers until November 17, but afterwards ODBE – a joint venture of British American Tobacco and Hungarian firm Continental – becomes the only authorised distributor of tobacco products.
If multinationals do not sign an agreement with ODBE, then they will be to blame for the long-term shortages that will develop at retailers, ODBE warned on its website.
The tobacco companies have turned to the European Commission to challenge the law that created the monopoly wholesaler.
As the new system requires them to provide detailed information on their pricing, sales and storage to ODBE, they would in effect be providing such data to one of their main competitors, British American Tobacco, Népszabadság notes.
Source: Hungary Around the Clock
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