DISPUTE BETWEEN AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, TOBACCO FACTORY RESUMES

ZAGREB, May 10 (Hina) - The Croatian Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has refused to register new brands of cigarettes the Zadar Tobacco Factory (TDZ) was to start producing in June this year, TDZ's Zagreb office said in a statement on Thursday. The Ministry has stated that the Zadar factory is not registered in the Register of Tobacco Producers and it therefore cannot register the factory's cigarettes in the Brand Register either. The Ministry previously issued a statement calling on the TDZ to complete its documents and adjust its requests to some regulations of the Rule Book on Tobacco Processing, Production and Tobacco Brands. The TDZ, which is owned by the British American Tobacco (BAT), says in its statement of today it was ready to start the production of tobacco at the beginning of this month and that new cigarette brands were to contain more than 60 percent of Croatian tobacco. The BAT threatens to stop doing business in Croatia due to the misunderstanding with the Ministry while the union of TDZ employees demand that the Ministry approve the start of production although the government and other tobacco factories in the country are opposed to that. (hina) rml