Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Tuesday said that he hopes that talks in the next few days will lead to a solution that will enable the British American Tobacco (BAT) company to remain in Kanfanar, Istria County for a longer period of time.

“I think that in talks in the next few days we will come to a solution that will enable BAT to remain for a longer period of time. It is in our interest as the government to achieve an agreement that will in some way anchor them in Istria. That is the point and not any short-term solution,” Plenkovic said talking to reporters at the Rijeka based 3. Maj dock during the handing over of a new ship for bulk cargo to the Canadian Algoma Central Corporation.

The Prime Minister recalled that the agreement under which BAT bought the factory in Kanfanar five years ago contained a clause that BAT will not leave Croatia for a period of five years, or it would have to pay a “fairly heavy penalty.”

Plenkovic said that talks with BAT are underway and they are being conducted by Finance Minister Zdravko Maric, and that he visited Kanfanar a few months ago.

“It is our wish to find a solution that we will be satisfied with, respecting our regulations and the fact that there are other stakeholders on the Croatian market,” Plenkovic said.

He underlined the importance of the Kanfanar factory in the context of tobacco producers, particularly in Virovitica-Podravina County, and the fact that 80% of BAT’s production in Kanfanar is exported.