History

Shareholders company “La Régie co-intrigued des Tabacs de l’Empire Ottoman” was founded in 1884 from Ottoman Bank, together with Kredit Anstalt from Wien and Bank Bleichrodez from Berlin. The aim was through private monopolies to pay the debts of Ottoman State towards foreign creditors. This JSC (known as „ Régie “) had a monopoly over exploitation and sales of tobacco in Turkiye. In order to fight against the smuggling Régie organized regular inspections on the seedbeds. Trying to increase the tobacco production in coastal regions (Aegean, Black Sea and Macedonia), the Regie also gave financial advances to tobacco producers, guarranted with the next crop. The purchasing was performed with negotiations and with mediation if there were disagreements. Afterwards the tobacco was processed in the warehouses of the Regie. Cigarette factories were located in the main centers of the production, in Izmir, Samsun, Thessaloniki and Aleppo. Only authorized network of dealers was licenced to trade with their products. The Regie was the biggest foreign investment in Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Treasury received only 5% of dividends. In 1925 Republic of Turkiye closed the Regie and established the Turkish monopoly Tekel, which was sold in 2008 to BAT. Regie’s brands of cigarettes were: Grand Prix, En A'ala, A'ala, Yaka, Kemal, Orta Giubek, Selam, Nazir, Ahali, Asker, Osmanli.