BELGRADE (AFP)--Global tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) will dismiss one third of the 910-strong workforce at its Serbian subsidiary in order to keep competitive, Beta news agency reported Friday.
"Detailed analysis showed that for effective and sustainable business, there should be no more than 580 employees" at Duvanska Industrija Nis, the agency said, quoting a DIN statement. The job cuts and other measures planned were designed to enable DIN to become increasingly comptetive due to lower prices and overall negative economic trends, the report said. According to the latest official data for May, the unemployment rate stood at 25.8% in Serbia, which plunged into recession in the first quarter of 2009 as a result of shrinking foreign investment. U.S.-based Philip Morris bought DIN in 2003, paying EUR580 million for a controlling 66% stake in the privatization of Serbia's biggest tobacco factory. Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=%2Ba5Lz8J90kdQ%2F%2Fo1CwsSQw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones
