The chronicle of Eger Tobacco Factory

The chosen company

THE CHOSEN COMPANY

On 24th January 1963, the Council of Ministers made public its 2/1963 document concerning state industry and industrial governing bodies. Reorganisation was on the agenda, and it affected the tobacco industry just like any other. In the course of the amalgamations that took place, the Eger factory became the Eger factory unit of the Ministry of Food Tobacco Industry Consortium, with effect from July 1st. This constitutional reorganisation of the tobacco industry was in line with the government’s policy of relocating individual industrial units from Budapest to the provinces. With this political decision, the fate of the Budapest-Lágymányos factory was sealed. However, the question remained open of where to move the Budapest factory to, with all its state-of-the-art equipment and machine pool which could turn out one and a half billion filter cigarettes a year. 20% of all cigarettes produced in Hungary were consumed in the capital, thus it seemed logical and important that the booming Budapest market, with its newly- developed taste for filter cigarettes, should be supplied by the manufacturer closest at hand. The Consortium chose Eger, and this choice turned Eger into the national centre of filter cigarette production. This decision set in motion a process of development and acquisition of equipment which was to last right up until 1971. As far as technology was concerned, this was a period of enormous strides. With the exception of the preparation stage, everything had to be learned afresh - the entire manufacturing and packaging process from start to finish. At the manufacturing stage this

Filter roll maker