The chronicle of Eger Tobacco Factory
On the great ship
Philip Morris turned to the Company Council asking it to accept PM's point of view and in order to provide further details of the multinational's plans, and following several rounds of negotiations at Eger, Philip Morris invited the director of the factory and members of the Company Council to its Swiss plant for a local introduction and discussions in the Lausanne centre in February 1991. While at the Lausanne centre we received answers to every question. The issue of whether Dr. László Domán would remain as director, or whether a new management would be installed in the company, was also raised. The answer from Philip Morris was straightforward: for years to come there will be a new foreign management team at the head of the company in order to train the Hungarians, while at some future date the Hungarians will be able to take over the management of the company; this has already been the well-proven practice at FTR and in other sister companies. So what was going through the heart and soul of 55-year-old Dr. László Domán? “Ever since I can remember, I have had to weigh different considerations. This I have to do now as I put my own life into one of the pans of a scale. On the other side is the future of 1,120 people. However, the future cannot be measured, so I can account it at what I wish. I am the director of the Eger Tobacco Factory, the previous directors of which for the first fifty years were respected and acknowledged in the street, while in the last forty-something years most of their wishes were fulfilled. I know every decision-maker at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. I have influential acquaintances in government offices, and I could bring the tobacco industry onto my side. I could protect myself.” But the director could also calculate very well. A few weeks Andreas Gembler and Aleardo Buzzi visiting the Eger factory
