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1923 Socotab (Société Commerciale de Tabac) founded in Antwerp, Belgium, principally importing Russian Sukhumi and exporting
to France and the USA. In the following years, business was developed in Turkey
and Greece and the specialization remained Oriental tobaccos.
1939 Socotab Leaf Co., Inc. established
in the USA.
1945 Sukhumi trade was revived,
as was the activity in Turkey and Greece.
1948 Bulgarian Djebel was added to the tobaccos handled by Socotab.
1951 A subsidiary company, Frana,
was established in France and became
the European headquarters of Socotab.
At the same time, Yugoslav tobaccos
were added to the varieties offered.
1957 Socotab Branch Office set up
in Thessaloniki, Greece.
1964 Socotab Branch Office set up in Izmir, Turkey.
1973 Socotab added Bulgarian tobaccos
for American cigarette manufacturers.
1975 Activities of Frana were transferred
to Geneva, Switzerland, and a Swiss company, Frana S.A. Genève was set up.
1986 Vertab Tütün AS set up in Izmir to process Izmir and Samsun varieties of Oriental tobacco.
1989 Schinas SA in Thessaloniki, Greece, acquired to handle all varieties of Greek Oriental
and semi-oriental tobacco in a modern processing installation and warehousing.
1992 Having worked continuously with Bulgartabac in Bulgaria since 1973, Socotab set up
a subsidiary company, Socotab Bulgaria EOOD, in Sofia.
1993 Durham Warehousing Corporation set-up
with offices in Durham, NC, USA.
1996

Having done business in Yugoslavia since 1951 handling all Macedonian Oriental tobaccos exported to the USA, Socotab
set-up two subsidiary companies
in the Republic of Macedonia: Socomak A.D. Skopje and Socomak Bitola A.D. Bitola.
1997 Socotab-Durham Corporation established with offices in Durham, NC, USA, to handle logistics in the United States.
1998

Universal Leaf Tobacco and Socotab Leaf Tobacco combined their Oriental tobacco operations into a new partnership: Socotab L.L.C.
Socotab Yaprak Tütün Sanayi ve Ticaret AS formed in Izmir, Turkey, as a result
of the merger between Universal Yaprak Tütün and Vertab Tütün.
2001 Socotab Hellas Leaf Tobacco C.I.S.A.
new processing factory built.
2002 Socotab Bulgaria’s new processing plant built.
2005 Frana S.A. Genève changed its name
to Socotab Frana SA.
2009 Socotab Bulgaria changed its name to Socotab EOOD and opened a branch office in Katerini, Socotab EOOD Greek Branch.

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