The chronicle of Eger Tobacco Factory

The chosen company

1991, the year prior to privatization, can be characterized in numbers as follows: 1,120 workers each produced HUF 3,373,000 of saleable goods, giving a pre-tax profit of HUF 374 million, while the average monthly per capita wage was HUF 25,022. But how could we characterize the year prior to privatization in words? How is it possible to sum up a period when 10 million people were burning in the fever of hope for a truly historic change of fortune? The political system which had thought itself virtually indestructible collapsed in a bloodless manner and without resort to arms. And in the crash of the collapse, ensuing bankruptcies and liquidations we could all see the real decay behind the company giants. The borders were opened to foreign investors, and in the tidal wave of privatization it wasn’t possible to know which company would sink and which would be thrown a life belt. After it was decided at government level that the tobacco industry companies would be included on the privatization list, the Eger Tobacco Factory once again stood at the head of the queue, and was picked out. Philip Morris, the world’s largest cigarette manufacturer, selected it, and the people of Eger gave a resounding welcome to the proposal.