site.btaFebruary 25, 1905: First Cartel Registered in Bulgaria, Uniting 40 Tobacco Factories

February 25, 1905 saw the registration of the first cartel in Bulgaria: Sveti Nikola Tobacco Factory Association, uniting 40 out of the country's 58 tobacco factories. 

In 1923, Bulgaria was already third in Europe for exports of quality tobacco products, with nearly 40% of the tobacco produced being processed in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria). The first thirty years of the 20th century saw the birth of the tobacco warehouse borough in downtown Plovdiv. The city boasted over 30 tobacco houses of four or five stories, with their own warehouses for processing and storing tobacco.

The tobacco was carted from the villages, then loaded onto freight wagons and sold in Europe. Plovdiv emerged as the largest centre for tobacco production. The town also became the centre of the Tobacco Workers' Union, founded in 1908, which also published its own newspaper, the Tyutyunorabotnik [Tobacco Worker]. 

In 1947, by virtue of the law voted by the Grand National Assembly to establish a state tobacco monopoly in Bulgaria, the warehouses, facilities, machinery and inventory of 81 foreign and Bulgarian tobacco trading companies in Plovdiv became state property. On this basis, the State Tobacco Monopoly - Plovdiv Branch was established, which began operating on  June 1, 1947.