The operations of tobacco producer British American Tobacco (BAT) in Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia and Croatia will be coordinated from Romania by the company’s new regional director Richard Widmann.

Widmann has an experience of 15 years within BAT. He has held several important positions within the company, such as commercial director in Malaysia and marketing director in South Africa. In the last four years, Richard Widmann coordinated BAT’s operations in Central and Eastern Europe from the position of CEO.

"Romania is an important country for British American Tobacco and that's why we have constantly invested here over the last 20 years, in the factory in Ploiesti, in our employees and in the development of the entire business. The fact that Romania was chosen regional leader shows both its growth potential and our firm commitment to the future,” said Richard Widmann.

Gemma Webb, who has been the general manager of British American Tobacco Romania since 2012, will take over the position of general manager of British American Tobacco Great Britain & Ireland starting January 1, as well as the responsibilities for Western Europe in the field of new generation products, the company announced.

“During the 6 years of coordinating British American Tobacco’s activities in Romania, I witnessed positive changes for the company and for Romania. During my term, the team in Romania almost doubled, reaching about 2,500 people who, without exception, had amazing results. Thanks to all these individual and team performances, the company is today the leader in Romania with a market share of over 55%," said Gemma Webb.

BAT recorded a net profit of EUR 149 million in Romania last year, up 54% compared to 2015. The growth was registered despite the fact that smoking was banned in enclosed public spaces in 2016.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com