Sarajevo Tobacco Factory
Encyclopedia
Sarajevo Tobacco Factory is a cigarette
-producing factory in Bosnia and Herzegovina
. Its headquarters is in Sarajevo
with branches in Bihać
, Tuzla
, Čitluk
and Banja Luka
as well as in Skopje
in the Republic of Macedonia
and Belgrade
in Serbia
. The factory produces the AurA Extra, AurA lights, AurA super lights, Drina denifine, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina zlatna, Drina lights, Drina super lights, Tigra medium, Code and 8 (Eight) brands until No Tobacco on January 2008.
in 1878. FDS was one of the first four industries in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For eighty years FDS was located in Marijin Dvor, nowadays a center of the city. At the very beginning, FDS consisted of only two buildings – production and administration. As the production grew, the FDS complex became larger. It was finally formed in 1891, when the last of ten buildings was constructed. This situation remained until the middle of the last century.
As the complex of FDS became larger, the number of employees also increased. In that early stage, it was mostly unskilled female labor. The first products of FDS were the cut tobacco
packets produced manually in the device called “avan”. Tobacco used for these packets was of a different grade and the packets were also different. During the Austro-Hungarian period, this product was exported.
The production of cigarettes started in 1882. They were produced manually until 1905 when the first automatic cigarette maker was obtained. By the beginning of World War I
, FDS marketed 23 brands. They were packed in boxes made of wood
, tin
and cardboard. The smallest packet contained five and the largest one hundred cigarettes.
FDS stagnated between the two world wars, especially in respect to its equipment. Still, during that period 55 different machines were provided, some of them intended for fabrication of the cut tobacco packets and cigarettes and the rest were machine tools for the workshop. The production and packing of the cut tobacco and several brands of oval and round cigarettes continued also in this period. Cigarettes were packed in packets of 100 and even 500.
At the very beginning of the World War II
the cut tobacco production decreased due to lower market demand. In this period, cigarette production also varied from year to year. During the war, FDS did not stop production, but it was dictated by the occupier. Ever since its foundation, for more than one century now, FDS has experienced many turbulent periods caused by the change of government and different social and political systems, but it has never stopped operating and producing.
FDS achieved success, not only in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also abroad including Egypt
, Russia
, Turkey
and Japan
.
The need to extend and modernize the existing facilities resulted in a decision to construct a new factory complex in 1960. The new factory was built in the Pofalići area, occupying approximately 40 000 m². The complex consisted of several buildings and reached its final appearance in 1971, when the construction was completed. Construction was completely financed by the employees of FDS, setting a precedent at that time and in such an environment.
The policy of FDS was to rely on its own labor. In 1946, the first machine (an automatic carton cutting machine) was constructed. Those machines, invented and constructed by the employees of FDS, were used in FDS and also sold to other companies in the former Yugoslavia
. The machines designed in FDS, among others, are Glibo I, Glibo II, Glibo III, Glibo IV and Glibo V. Today, the machines are primarily important as museum pieces, as they indicate the technological process in the factory
.
The period from 1971 is characterized by the modernization activities. New, modern equipment was provided intended to meet new technologies in the production of cigarettes. In that way the factory became one of the most modern tobacco plants in Europe
and a leader in the South-Slavic
(former Yugoslav) area. All the activities intended for the upgrade of the production process and education of the employees resulted in the signing of a contract with the world known company Philip Morris
to make Marlboro cigarettes in 1970. Implementation of this contract started in 1971 and was successful until 1992, when it was broken up due to the war
.
In the history of FDS, several periods may be identified. The first was the Austro-Hungarian period, when the Factory operated to meet the requirements of the ruling Austro-Hungarian authorities. The second is the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, when the Factory considerably stagnated due to the monopolistic treatment by authorities from Belgrade
. The third important period is after the Second World War, when FDS recorded very good business results regardless of frequent unfavorable working conditions. During this period, which lasted for almost fifty years, FDS became materially a very strong factory and employed highly skilled workers who managed to keep up with European and world trends in the tobacco industry
.
The most difficult period for Fabrika duhana Sarajevo was the war time, from 1992 to 1995. Although severely damaged, Fabrika duhana Sarajevo did not stop production.
The brands produced by FDS until now are: Damen, Hercegovina, Bosna, Guslar, Drina, Sarajevo, Mostar, Neretva, Štefanija, Foča, Flor, Vrbas, Morava, Sarajka, Start, Sutjestka, Zeta, Internacional, Ibar, Drava, Morava-crvena, Drina-denifine, Lara, Skend, Marlboro, Bond, Alfa, Sedef, Specijal, Wind, Bosnae, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina zlatna, Drina lights, Drina super lights, AurA extra, AurA lights, AurA super lights, Tigra medium, Multi Nova, Code and 8 (Eight).
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
-producing factory in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. Its headquarters is in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
with branches in Bihać
Bihac
Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...
, Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...
, Čitluk
Citluk
Čitluk is a town and municipality located in Herzegovina, in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a municipality of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
and Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
as well as in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
and Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. The factory produces the AurA Extra, AurA lights, AurA super lights, Drina denifine, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina zlatna, Drina lights, Drina super lights, Tigra medium, Code and 8 (Eight) brands until No Tobacco on January 2008.
History
The Sarajevo Tobacco Factory was founded in 1880, only two years after occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian EmpireAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
in 1878. FDS was one of the first four industries in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For eighty years FDS was located in Marijin Dvor, nowadays a center of the city. At the very beginning, FDS consisted of only two buildings – production and administration. As the production grew, the FDS complex became larger. It was finally formed in 1891, when the last of ten buildings was constructed. This situation remained until the middle of the last century.
As the complex of FDS became larger, the number of employees also increased. In that early stage, it was mostly unskilled female labor. The first products of FDS were the cut tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
packets produced manually in the device called “avan”. Tobacco used for these packets was of a different grade and the packets were also different. During the Austro-Hungarian period, this product was exported.
The production of cigarettes started in 1882. They were produced manually until 1905 when the first automatic cigarette maker was obtained. By the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, FDS marketed 23 brands. They were packed in boxes made of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
and cardboard. The smallest packet contained five and the largest one hundred cigarettes.
FDS stagnated between the two world wars, especially in respect to its equipment. Still, during that period 55 different machines were provided, some of them intended for fabrication of the cut tobacco packets and cigarettes and the rest were machine tools for the workshop. The production and packing of the cut tobacco and several brands of oval and round cigarettes continued also in this period. Cigarettes were packed in packets of 100 and even 500.
At the very beginning of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the cut tobacco production decreased due to lower market demand. In this period, cigarette production also varied from year to year. During the war, FDS did not stop production, but it was dictated by the occupier. Ever since its foundation, for more than one century now, FDS has experienced many turbulent periods caused by the change of government and different social and political systems, but it has never stopped operating and producing.
FDS achieved success, not only in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also abroad including Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The need to extend and modernize the existing facilities resulted in a decision to construct a new factory complex in 1960. The new factory was built in the Pofalići area, occupying approximately 40 000 m². The complex consisted of several buildings and reached its final appearance in 1971, when the construction was completed. Construction was completely financed by the employees of FDS, setting a precedent at that time and in such an environment.
The policy of FDS was to rely on its own labor. In 1946, the first machine (an automatic carton cutting machine) was constructed. Those machines, invented and constructed by the employees of FDS, were used in FDS and also sold to other companies in the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. The machines designed in FDS, among others, are Glibo I, Glibo II, Glibo III, Glibo IV and Glibo V. Today, the machines are primarily important as museum pieces, as they indicate the technological process in the factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
.
The period from 1971 is characterized by the modernization activities. New, modern equipment was provided intended to meet new technologies in the production of cigarettes. In that way the factory became one of the most modern tobacco plants in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and a leader in the South-Slavic
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
(former Yugoslav) area. All the activities intended for the upgrade of the production process and education of the employees resulted in the signing of a contract with the world known company Philip Morris
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...
to make Marlboro cigarettes in 1970. Implementation of this contract started in 1971 and was successful until 1992, when it was broken up due to the war
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
.
In the history of FDS, several periods may be identified. The first was the Austro-Hungarian period, when the Factory operated to meet the requirements of the ruling Austro-Hungarian authorities. The second is the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, when the Factory considerably stagnated due to the monopolistic treatment by authorities from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The third important period is after the Second World War, when FDS recorded very good business results regardless of frequent unfavorable working conditions. During this period, which lasted for almost fifty years, FDS became materially a very strong factory and employed highly skilled workers who managed to keep up with European and world trends in the tobacco industry
Tobacco industry
The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all...
.
The most difficult period for Fabrika duhana Sarajevo was the war time, from 1992 to 1995. Although severely damaged, Fabrika duhana Sarajevo did not stop production.
The brands produced by FDS until now are: Damen, Hercegovina, Bosna, Guslar, Drina, Sarajevo, Mostar, Neretva, Štefanija, Foča, Flor, Vrbas, Morava, Sarajka, Start, Sutjestka, Zeta, Internacional, Ibar, Drava, Morava-crvena, Drina-denifine, Lara, Skend, Marlboro, Bond, Alfa, Sedef, Specijal, Wind, Bosnae, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina bijela, Drina jedina zlatna, Drina lights, Drina super lights, AurA extra, AurA lights, AurA super lights, Tigra medium, Multi Nova, Code and 8 (Eight).