Northern Greece tobacco company SEKAP, which found itself in the middle of a political furor in the recent period, will reportedly pass into the control of Japan Tobacco group as early as the third quarter of 2018.
SEKAP’s sale to the Japanese tobacco giant comes after its parent company, southern Russia’s Donskoy Tabak, was sold to the former. Donstoy Tabak, and by extension SEKAP, is managed by Greek-Russian businessman and investor Ivan Savvidis, who owns a majority stake.
Efforts by the northeast Greece company to suspend a 44-million-euro fine imposed against it for customs violations, which date to a period prior to Savvidis’ purchase of the cigarette maker, even through controversial legislative initiatives, sparked a political firestorm between the leftist-rightist coalition government and opposition parties.
In a laconic statement by Savvidis towards the company’s workforce, he said his intention to sell his share in the Greek company is due to lower sales, blamed on the economic crisis, as well as “significant increases” in special consumer taxes.
The Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported that the entire deal for Donskay Tabak and its subsidiaries, all part of the Agrokom group, is worth 90 billion Russian rubles, or 1.3 billion euros.
