Tobacco Control

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER
[Advanced]

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this link to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Add article to my folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gilmore, A B
Right arrow Articles by McKee, M
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gilmore, A B
Right arrow Articles by McKee, M
Related Collections
Right arrow Economics of tobacco use and control
Right arrow Advertising and Marketing
Tobacco Control 2004;13:151-160
© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd


RESEARCH PAPER

Moving East: how the transnational tobacco industry gained entry to the emerging markets of the former Soviet Union—part II: an overview of priorities and tactics used to establish a manufacturing presence

A B Gilmore, M McKee

European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (ECOHOST), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr Anna B Gilmore
European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; anna.gilmore{at}lshtm.ac.uk

Objectives: To explore how British American Tobacco (BAT), having established cigarette imports, responded to the opportunities for investment in cigarette manufacturing in the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Design: Analysis of documents held at the BAT archive in Guildford, UK.

Results: Considerable priority was attached to investing in the FSU. This led BAT to undertake a major organisational change and to intense competition to acquire assets. BAT used flawed economic arguments to persuade cash starved governments that its investment would reap economic rewards. It offered excise advice that disadvantaged governments while benefiting BAT, confused issues over pricing, and avoided competitive tendering. BAT targeted agriculture ministries, using its expertise in leaf production to differentiate itself from other potential investors. It subverted the principles of corporate social responsibility to promote itself as a business partner. BAT’s task was made easier by the naivety of post-Soviet governments and by the international financial organisations’ support for rapid economic reform. The latter permitted tobacco transnationals to penetrate markets before effective competitive tendering processes had been established, giving them the opportunity to minimise prices and establish monopolies.

Conclusions: Many of the arguments employed when penetrating post-Soviet markets were highly misleading but governments lacked expertise to realise this. There is a need to build tobacco control capacity in transition economies, within and outside government, to ensure that governments are better informed of the true economic and health impacts of tobacco. Rapid transition from socialist to market economies without establishing regulatory institutional structures may be dangerous when investing companies use business practices that fall short of international standards.


Abbreviations: BAT, British American Tobacco; BATUKE, BAT United Kingdom and Export; EBRD, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; IMF, International Monetary Fund; NBD, New Business Development; FSU, former Soviet Union; TTCs, transnational tobacco companies

Keywords: tobacco industry documents; former Soviet Union; market entry




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Am. J. Public HealthHome page
A. Gilmore, J. Collin, and J. Townsend
Transnational Tobacco Company Influence on Tax Policy During Privatization of a State Monopoly: British American Tobacco and Uzbekistan
Am J Public Health, November 1, 2007; 97(11): 2001 - 2009.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
F. Perlman, M. Bobak, A. Gilmore, and M. McKee
Trends in the prevalence of smoking in Russia during the transition to a market economy
Tob. Control, October 1, 2007; 16(5): 299 - 305.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
A. B Gilmore, M. McKee, and J. Collin
The invisible hand: how British American Tobacco precluded competition in Uzbekistan
Tob. Control, August 1, 2007; 16(4): 239 - 247.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
M. Chaiton, R. Ferrence, and E. LeGresley
Perceptions of industry responsibility and tobacco control policy by US tobacco company executives in trial testimony
Tob. Control, December 1, 2006; 15(suppl_4): iv98 - iv106.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Eur J Public HealthHome page
E. M. LeGresley, M. E. Muggli, and R. D. Hurt
Movie Moguls: British American Tobacco's covert strategy to promote cigarettes in Eastern Europe
Eur J Public Health, October 1, 2006; 16(5): 505 - 508.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
A B Gilmore and M McKee
Exploring the impact of foreign direct investment on tobacco consumption in the former Soviet Union
Tob. Control, February 1, 2005; 14(1): 13 - 21.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
K Lee, A B Gilmore, and J Collin
Breaking and re-entering: British American Tobacco in China 1979-2000
Tob. Control, December 1, 2004; 13(suppl_2): ii88 - ii95.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Tobacco ControlHome page
R MacKenzie, J Collin, C Sopharo, and Y Sopheap
"Almost a role model of what we would like to do everywhere": British American Tobacco in Cambodia
Tob. Control, December 1, 2004; 13(suppl_2): ii112 - ii117.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER
Terms and conditions relating to subscriptions purchased online  ¦  Website terms and conditions  ¦  Privacy policy
Copyright © 2004 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.