French wants Poland's state tobacco firm
French biotechnological company Biosyntec wants to invest in Zakłady Tytoniowe Lublin (ZTL), the last state-owned company on the tobacco market in the EU. "The first meeting concerning terms for the sale of company shares has been held," announced Agnieszka Żukowska of the Treasury Ministry, which plans to finish the privatization procedure in Q2 2008.
ZTL has been losing its share of the cigarette market over the past few years, however, it is the leading domestic producer of tobacco.
Biosyntec's capital should open ZTL to the global market. The firm has plans to produce a new type of cigarette filter that would reduce the risk of cancer cells caused by cigarette smoke by 80%.
Experts from the tobacco industry unofficially said that if the performance of the filters is confirmed, no tobacco company will be able to ignore them.
The cigarette market in Poland is worth almost zł.20 billion annually.
