rosbank ( russian : росбанк ) is a russian universal bank whose majority shareholder is the international financial group société générale .

as of december 2014 , rosbank 's assets are the 12th among russian banks .

legally , rosbank is registered as a public joint-stock company ( pjsc ) and headquartered in moscow .

on 1 july 2011 rosbank merged with another russian subsidiary of société générale , banque société générale vostok ( bsgv ) .

strategy of societe generale group is basic on further improvement of client service and maintenance of leadership in innovation , capturing growth through business development , increased synergies , and delivery of sustainable profitability .

rosbank

rosbank pao ( rosbank pjsc ) , formerly akb rosbank pao and akb rosbank oao , is a russia - based commercial bank that provides a range of banking and financial services . the bank specializes in retail and corporate banking , invest
rosbank akb : eyewatering budget cost of putin ' s spending pledges de . .
the french bank has said once the deal is completed it would make a mandatory offer to rosbank’s minority shareholders to lift its stake in rosbank to 57 . 8 percent .
france’s société générale , which holds a controlling stake in the russian bank rosbank , has offered to buy the stakes of minority shareholders for 194 . 09 rubles per share , rosbank said on tuesday .
rosbank joint stock commercial bank «rosbank» is one of the leading banks in the russian banking sphere . its primary activities include retail and corporate banking , investment banking , and private banking . having the largest private regional network today rosbank operates about 650 outlets , including 68 branches and 58 moscow offices . urltoken
rosbank akb :
signal 2 . 0
will help to understand the
customer pro . .
russian tycoons vladimir potanin and mikhail prokhorov , who had controlled rosbank , are currently the largest minority shareholders . rosbank shares closed at 184 . 49 roubles ( $ 7 . 68 ) per share on monday .
two russian tycoons , vladimir potanin and mikhail prokhorov , who had controlled rosbank , are currently the largest minority shareholders . rosbank shares closed at 184 . 49 rubles ( $ 7 . 68 ) per share on monday .
it also plans to cut “hundreds” of back office jobs at rosbank , bloomberg news reported , citing unnamed sources .
customers can apply for , formalize and pick up the cards either in the o ' key hypermarkets or rosbank offices .
0 outlets and 2600 atms . the bank of russia included rosbank in the list of 10 systemically important credit institutions .
long - expected changes in rosbank have finally taken place . andrey bugrov , the chairman of rosbank’s board of directors , sent in his resignation . from now on he will work at interros holding - he will take the position of the deputy chairman of the holding’s administration . his position at rosbank was taken by evgeny ivanov . this person will now be in charge of the issues of strategic development and shareholder control . alexander popov was appointed to chair rosbank’s board of directors .
socgen bought into rosbank in 2006 and had built up an 82 percent stake by 2012 . socgen then bought 10 percent of rosbank from russia’s second - largest bank , state - controlled vtb in 2013 , increasing the stake to more than 90 percent .
socgen , which bought into rosbank in 2006 , has spent billions of dollars fixing a bank it has considered to be underperforming .
) , has offered to buy the stakes of minority shareholders at 194 . 09 roubles per share , rosbank said on tuesday .
the french bank agreed to double its stake in rosbank to 20 percent , minus one share , for $ 317 million ( r2 . 4 billion ) . rosbank has russia ' s second - largest branch network and is the market leader in car loans .
fitch ratings affirms rosbank at
bbb -
( lt int . scale ( local curr . ) credit rating ) ; outlook positive
fitch ratings affirms rosbank at
bbb -
( lt int . scale ( foreign curr . ) credit rating ) ; outlook positive
rosbank is a large universal bank , owned by interros . the consolidation of banking business of the ovk banking group , which was purchased in 2003 by interros , with rosbank created one of the largest private banks in russia with the second largest regional branch network after sberbank .
rosbank serves more than 3 . 6 mln individual customers in 71 regions of russia . the bank ' s regional network numbers more than 4
analysts estimated that socgen was paying 6 times rosbank ' s book value at the end of 2005 , a record for a russian bank takeover . however , taking into account growth over the option period , it would fall to a forecast 2 . 9 times of rosbank ' s 2008 book value .
fitch ratings revised outlook on rosbank to positive and affirmed at
bbb -
( lt int . scale ( local curr . ) ) credit rating
fitch ratings revised outlook on rosbank to positive and affirmed at
bbb -
( lt int . scale ( foreign curr . ) ) credit rating
exercising the 30 percent option would trigger an offer for minority shareholdings , which would allow socgen to own up to 58 percent of rosbank , socgen said .
rosbank confirmed in a statement that it was cutting jobs as part of a previously disclosed “optimization” process at its head office , but did not disclose a figure .
multicarta became a winner of the open tender for the provision of service maintenance of atms of northwest , stavropol’ , southern , lipetsk and yaroslavl’ branches of rosbank .
rosbank serves more than 3 million individual customers in 71 regions of russia . the bank’s regional network counts over 600 outlets , 1200 sales points and 3000 atms .
societe generale said it bought 7 percent of rosbank’s share capital from interros group , controlled by russian billionaire vladimir potanin , increasing the stake to 99 . 4 percent .
socgen also announced an option to acquire another 30 percent of rosbank plus two shares for $ 1 . 7 billion at any time between september 2006 and the end of 2008 .
socgen raised its stake in its troubled russian unit to 92 . 4 percent last month after buying 10 percent more from the state - controlled vtb , betting it can turn rosbank around .
card is part of the
classic
service package . for more information on the categories of banking services and options available please visit the rosbank website (
individuals
section ) .
socgen chief executive frederic oudea will be under pressure to further reassure investors about the bank’s strategy in russia after spending billions on acquiring and restructuring rosbank with little to show in terms of profit .
societe generale closed a deal to buy about 30 percent of russia’s rosbank from russian firm km - invest for $ 1 . 7 billion in february . societe generale previously held a 20 percent stake .
rosbank has been assigned investment credit ratings by international rating agencies fitch ratings ( bbb ) and moody’s investor services ( baa3 ) . rosbank is ranked among the most credible banks according to forbes magazine rating ( forbes , 2014 ) . the bank leads in the list of the most expensive brands among the foreign financial institutions of russia ( brand finance jointly with brandlab and banki . ru , 2014 ) .
“they have declared that they want to be in full control of rosbank , it is a simplification of control mechanism , ” jean - pierre lambert , analyst at keefe , bruyette & woods , said .
société générale closed a deal to buy about 30 percent of russia’s rosbank from a russian company km - invest for $ 1 . 7 billion in february . société générale previously held a 20 percent stake .
paris and moscow - societe generale ( socgen ) yesterday moved to become a leading foreign bank in russia through a multistage deal to acquire control of top - 10 bank rosbank by the end of 2008 .
the new chairman , dmitry olyunin , previously worked in the vtb group for nine years , overseeing the recent merger of transcreditbank and vtb’s retail arm vtb24 . his appointment at rosbank requires russian central bank approval .
socgen has publicly reaffirmed its support for russian subsidiary rosbank and has said the unit is operating normally after its head vladimir golubkov was arrested last week in a dramatic sting that was filmed on camera by police .
rosbank was recently included in the interfax corporation information center ' s top five companies in terms of information disclosure . the bank disclosed 412 corporate events and provided detailed data on their activities on a timely basis to the financial markets last year . founded in 1993 , rosbank is a universal bank whose majority shareholder is the international financial group société générale . it has the ninth largest assets among russian banks and employees with more than 13 , 000 people working in 340 cities and towns across the country . on may 2 , 2012 , rosbank signed an agreement with alfa - bank to unite their atm networks , allowing customers to withdraw money at either bank without additional fees . a similar agreement was signed with raiffeisen bank on dec . 1 , 2012 . the deal brings the total number of atms available for rosbank customers to 21 , 000 machines .
) and moody ' s investor services ( ba2 ) . rosbank enters the list of the most reliable banks according to forbes rating in 2016 . the bank occupied first position in the list of the most expensive brands among financial institutions with foreign capital ( brand finance , 2015 ) . rosbank awarded by national banking award of russian banker ' s association in nomination
high quality level of loan portfolio
in december , 2015
“his strong experience and track record in the russian banking sector will be instrumental in developing our universal banking model strategy in russia , ” said didier hauguel , chairman of rosbank’s board of directors , in a statement .
joint stock commercial bank rosbank pjsc 34 , masha poryvaeva street moscow 107078 phone : + 7 . 495 . 921 . 01 . 01 fax : + 7 . 495 . 725 . 05 . 11 web : urltoken
the proposed project will promote financial intermediation in russia by using the broad regional network of rosbank / ovk to reach russian sme and retail customers with longer tenor funding , which is essential for capital financing and mortgages .
sg russia , which includes rosbank and other insurance and financial operations , made operating income of 239 million euros ( $ 331 . 91 million ) last year , almost double 2012 despite a 41 percent jump in losses from bad debts .
moscow , nov 13 ( reuters ) - societe generale’s russian unit rosbank picked a former executive of russia’s second biggest lender vtb on wednesday as its new chairman , six months after being rocked by the arrest of its previous ceo on bribery charges .
mastercard international payment system launch a debit card
rosbank - o ' key mastercard
, which will allow customers to get considerable additional benefits from their shopping experience . the shoppers will receive mastercard world bank cards supporting an innovative contactless payment technology .
these changes in the administration of the bank are connected with the start of the new strategy implementation . the strategy is meant for the period of 2003 - 2007 . the top management of the bank has to solve several uneasy problems in order to make rosbank become a large universal financial institution that would take a leading position in russian banks rating . as it turns out , interros holding – the shareholder of rosbank’s control stock of shares – is even ready to give up the control for that .
rosbank is a universal bank , a part of societe generale group . the group’s strategy is aimed at improving the quality of customer service and attaining leading positions in innovation , sustaining growth through business development , increasing cooperation between bank divisions and achieving sustainable profitability .
bankers familiar with the way rosbank is run have told reuters that the unit has suffered from internal divisions between moscow and paris and that socgen has struggled to keep the bank on a tight leash . the french bank has said it remains committed to staying in russia .
as rosbank’s official press release mentioned , the bank is supposed to become a large universal commerce bank as a result of the implementation of the new strategy . as the administration of the bank believes , rosbank will take a stable position in top five of russia’s private financial institutions . the key directions of its activities will include commercial , investment and retail activities . the bank is intended to expand its presence in russia’s regions as much as possible . the bank is going to set up the network of its subsidiaries as well as electronic sales channels in economically dynamic regions of the country . in addition to the work with corporate clients , the bank plans to pay special attention to retail activities . particularly , rosbank is intended to attract approximately 2 . 7 billion dollars from about a million of natural persons .
rosbank fired its former ceo vladimir golubkov in may after he was caught in a sting operation in which investigators filmed him with piles of cash on his office desk . he has pleaded innocent to bribery charges which , if he is convicted , could put him behind bars for seven years .
rosbank will be required to comply with ebrd’s environmental procedures for intermediated financing through local banks and environmental guidelines for residential mortgage lending , including adherence to the environmental exclusion and referral list , compliance with the applicable national environmental , health and safety legislation , and submission of annual environmental reports to ebrd .
rusfinance bank and rosbank have launched the new premium welcome package of banking services tailored to suit the needs of rusfinance bank ' s premiums clients , the bank informed . the offer makes a wide range of rosbank services available to clients of rusfinance bank . llc rusfinance bank ( tax number : 5012003647 ) is a wholly - owned subsidiary of rosbank operating as part of société générale international financial group since 2004 . rusfinance group specializes in consumer lending services via its regional network comprising more than 25 , 000 partners ( auto dealers and retail outlets ) and own representative offices in 68 regions of russia . llc rusfinance bank was established 1992 in samara ( named promek - bank llc until february 2006 ) . in july 2005 , société générale group completed the acquisition of 100 % of the bank ' s shares from sok group . the bank possesses general license no . 1792 issued by the central bank of russia on february 13 , 2013 .
yevgeny ivanov , the new president of the bank gave the following explanation regarding the development of the new concept . at present moment rosbank takes the space of only one percent in several branches of the russian banking market . one may not say that the shareholders are absolutely happy with such a state of things . they would like to increase the bank’s presence up to the level of six percent . in addition to that , the demand balance growth on corporate clients’ accounts has slowed down for the moment . such a perspective branch of the banking market as working with natural persons’ attracted funds has not played an important role in rosbank’s activity lately ( disregarding vip clients servicing , of course ) .
the rosbank and consyst business group ( lanit ) cooperation started in 2008 , a system for automatic optimization of atm cash sweep operations building . the system is able to conduct full access to atm networks and bank branches from the collection , from the survey of atm machines to the office work . positive economic effects of the implementation of the solution quickly became apparent : the amount of cash in atms in network optimization , which resulted in a significant reduction in maintenance costs and total cash flow management of quality development . in the last period this system solution extended to the central office cash management activity is recorded and stored lancashmanagement program . the solution is based on microsoft dynamics ax erp system is due to that the ability to control the properties of the running costs of the atm network service providers and data centers , the cost of taking stock . thanks to the achievements of rosbank in moscow branch network launched a new , multi - stage project : the first phase in the russian rosbank entire atm network was introduced globally in lancashmanagement atm cash management solution . in the second phase of consyst business group specialists have developed and implemented systems with a centralized cash management system to balance the accounts for rosbank in moscow . a specific frequency measurement that the atm locations and bank accounts have been fulfilled and the processing operation is based , it has been possible to identify patterns and processes of the cash flow forecast of ticket offices and atm points . the lancashmanagement solution gives the best forecasts in the banking departments and atm collectors collection optimal timing and cash flow trends . a user can get help from the forecast processing and the necessary adaptations to the administrative documents are immediately displayed in the system . the lancashmanagement allows the cash handling costs decrease the atm network and branches , operations costs and helps to increase the transparency of transactions and improve customer service . the cash balance management system introduced intends to extend networks and regional accounts in the rosbank . olga szkorobogatova , vice president of rosbank : “the lancashmanagment system enables a highly developed network of atms and cash management solutions . the flexibility of the solutions to our needs and the possibility of legal changes in alignment gives us a fundamental advantage over western competitors as well . ” pavel gorjanszkij , head of consyst business group , “full and successful implementation of the ‘rosbank’ project on time is the best proof that the lancashmanagement solutions are effective and meet the banking requirements , specifically promoting the development of customer services as well . ”
the board of directors of the bank is going to dissipate all doubts for shareholders : the board is going to recommend the meeting of shareholders to pay the dividend for the year 2002 . the bank has not practiced that before . the investment yield of the bank is supposed to reach the level of twelve percent per annum in the future . as it is planned , the market value of rosbank ' s shares against the balance value is not to be lower than the proportion of 7 : 1 by the year 2007 . the capital of the bank is to exceed the sum of $ 650 million by the same year . if everything goes alright , rosbank will be ready to enter the public stock market .
there are no doubts that the major goal of the new strategy is to increase the investment attraction of the bank and to sell a certain part of its stocks to other investors . in the words from andrey bugrov , interros holding is ready to refuse from the control stock of shares of the bank for those purposes , and to simply remain a large shareholding owner . this would be a right thing to do . interros’s reputation of the main financial instrument , as well as the fact that the holding was the only large shareholder , restricted the growth of rosbank’s capitalization , which restrained potential investors . “our prime goal is to stop being the direct association of interros . we want to become an independent business that would be interesting and attractive for various investors , ” yevgeny ivanov asserted . rosbank has already made its first step in that direction : it exposed the joint stock structure at the end of the past year . as it was announced , 75 % of rosbank’s shares are owned by interros , 20 % are owned by the oil giant surgutneftegaz , and five percent of shares belong to minor shareholders .
rosbank is russia ' s seventh - largest bank , according to the interfax centre for economic analysis , with assets of 208 billion roubles ( r59 . 5 billion ) and equity capital of 21 billion roubles . it is controlled by interros , the holding group of metals magnates vladimir potanin and mikhail prokhorov , who also control norilsk nickel , the world ' s biggest nickel firm .
russia’s rosbank plans to collect bids for 5 billion rubles worth of 10 - year bonds on december 13 , a banking source told prime on tuesday . the guidance for the first coupon was set at 9 . 8–9 . 95 % annually , which corresponds to a 10 . 04–10 . 2 % annual yield to a 3 - year offer . the issue carries semiannual coupons . the technical placement is scheduled for december 20 . bank itself acts as the placement’s organizer .
yevgeny ivanov was born in 1966 . in 1990 he graduated from the moscow state financial institute , the department of international economic relations . after the graduation , he worked at the state bank of the ussr , at the central bank of the russian federation . in 1997 he started working at oneksimbank , where he set up the department for precious metals . he has taken the position of the administration chairman of joint - stock commerce bank rosbank since september 2000 to february 2003 .
it is worth reminding that o ' key was the first major food retailer in the northwest of russia who made the contactless payment technology available in all their stores several years ago . we are very pleased that the rosbank - o ' key mastercard card also supports our advanced contactless technology , which is in fact a new milestone in the retailer ' s loyalty program journey . convenient , fast , safe and cost effective - looks like we have taken into account all the interests that loyal customers may have .
alexander popov was born in 1970 . in 1991 he graduated from the moscow people’s economy institute , the department of finances and credits . he took the position of the chief of the currency and financial operations department during the period 1991 - 1995 . from 1995 to 1998 he was a member of the administration , the chairman of oneksimbank’s treasury . in 1998 - 2000 he executed the duties of the director of the treasury operations . in 2000 he took the position of the deputy chairman of rosbank’s administration . during the period of 2001 - 2003 he also worked as the paymaster general , deputy general director of the joint - stock company norilsk nickel .
provides banking and financial services joint stock commercial bank rosbank pjsc engages in the provision of banking and financial services . it operates within the following segments : retail banking , corporate banking , and treasury and financial institutions . the retail banking segment engages in private banking services , private customer current accounts , savings , deposits , investment saving products , custody , credit and debit cards , consumer loans , and mortgages . the corporate banking segment includes direct debit facilities , current accounts , deposits , overdrafts , loan and other credit facilities , foreign currency , and derivative products . the treasury and financial institutions segment represents all trading financial instruments recognized and measured at fair value through profit and loss , as well as loans and borrowings initiated through the interbank transactions . the company was founded on march 2 , 1993 and is headquartered in moscow , russia .
sberbank is the largest bank of russia ( as of december 31 , 2011 ) .
the indian fintech space is expected to reach $ 2 . 4 billion by 2020 and 2018 will be a critical year in that journey because 52 % of india ' s digitally active consumers are adopting fintech and are the driving force for new technology adoptions .
digital banking and security
titled international banking exhibition & conference will be held in baku on 17 - 18 of april , 2018 by fa international trade events .
on the 26th of september , in the saint - petersburg ( russia ) , will be held the blockchain life 2017 - the largest conference about bitcoin , the blockchain , cryptocurrency , and mining .
today indian economy is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and contributing to its high growth are many critical sectors , amongst which the bfsi sector is unarguably one of the most distinguished sectors of indian economy .
futuretech congress ended its two - day event devoted to innovations in the fintech , insurtech and big data industries .
) , which it said was part of a long - term commitment to russia .
french bank societe generale logo is seen on the facade of a building in paris , november 7 , 2013 . reuters / jacky naegelen
the deal comes as russia’s economy is under pressure partly as a result of sanctions imposed by the united states and europe to protest against moscow’s annexation of crimea .
“societe generale’s commitment to russia is part of a long - term vision , ” the bank said in a statement .
russia and eastern europe are key planks of socgen chief executive frederic oudea’s strategy , which aims to increase exposure to economies beyond the euro zone .
socgen had exposure of 22 . 4 billion euros to russia at the end of june , according to the european banking authority’s ( eba ) data . that equated to 15 . 7 billion euros in risk - weighted assets .
the bank said the transaction had a limited impact of a few basis points on the group’s common equity tier 1 ratio , which stood at 10 percent at the end of 2013 .
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we began in 1990 when we set up alfa - bank ( russia ) . through a combination of successful acquisitions , banking and financial expertise , and innovation in technology , we have become one of the leading multinational banking groups operating in locations ranging from moscow to amsterdam to astana .
alfa - bank ( russia ) acquired 100 % of amsterdam trade bank n . v .
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exposure to russia and eastern europe are key planks of socgen’s recovery strategy , which aims to offset stagnating domestic retail revenues and volatile trading profits .
in its latest quarterly report , socgen , france’s second biggest bank , said its business in russia had made a 32 million euro contribution to the group’s net income in the third quarter .
the bribery case has raised questions about strategy at socgen , which is under pressure to show that this year will be the start of a sustainable growth trend after its international retail arm posted a 2 million euro loss last year . ( reporting by maya dyakina in moscow and lionel laurent in paris ; editing by gareth jones )
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the consolidation of société générale ' s russian subsidiaries will create a universal bank with firepower , its chief executive vladimir golubkov explains .
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km - invest manages some assets belonging to mr . prokhorov and mr . potanin , who are enmeshed in a complicated process to divide their assets , including the metals giant norilsk nickel and russia’s top gold producer , polyus gold .
the logo for france ' s bank societe generale is seen in paris february 13 , 2008 . reuters / charles platiau
) management will face investors later on wednesday for the first time since the shock arrest of the french bank’s top russian executive on charges of bribery .
french bank societe generale chairman and chief executive officer frederic oudea attends the bank ' s 2012 annual results presentation in la defense near paris , february 13 , 2013 . reuters / christian hartmann
the annual shareholder meeting is also likely to draw ire over a rise in 2012 bonus payouts for top management after a year that saw job cuts and a slump in profits at france’s no . 2 listed bank .
a judge has since ordered that golubkov be put under house arrest for two months .
oudea will likely also have to defend his decision to accept a 75 percent increase in his bonus for 2012 , with union representatives saying they will picket the annual shareholders meeting on wednesday .
the bank is in the early stages of a drive to cut costs and combine operating divisions to offset recession in france and new regulations designed to make banks safer after the financial crisis .
socgen has already briefed unions on a plan to cut more than 600 back - office jobs at its paris headquarters . with revenue growth drying up in its retail branches , there are likely more in the pipeline .
black sea trade and development bank , russian federal corp . for smes support business growth
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o ' key group s . a . ( lse : okey ) , one of the largest food retailers in russia ,
the new card is a major co - branded card project implemented in 2016 by a bank and a top 10 russian retailer .
the new card holders will get bonus points when paying for the purchases in the o ' key stores depending on their basket size . the maximum is 7 points for every 100 rubles provided that the purchase by card is for 3 , 000 + rubles . by spending 1 , 000 to 3 , 000 rubles the customers will receive 5 points for every 100 rubles . those who buy for less than 1 , 000 rubles will get 2 points for every 100 rubles . the card can also be used to pay in other stores where 1 point will be given for every 100 rubles spent .
all the earned points , without exception , can be further converted into the purchases in all of the o ' key stores .
thanks to the cooperation with one of russia ' s leading and most reliable banks , we offer our customers a unique opportunity to save their funds and make the best use of their family budget . in addition to an efficient bonus points system , the new cards provide all the benefits of the o ' key loyalty cards allowing customers to enjoy considerable additional discounts on food and non - food products in our stores . we have no doubt that the new card will become the most efficient shopping tool for our customers .
when receiving and activating their cards , the customers will get 150 welcome points . every month they can earn up to 3 , 000 points to get discounts for their future purchases in the o ' key stores ( 1 point = 1 ruble ) .
the cards will be issued for free . the service will also be free of charge if the customer meets one of the three conditions : 1 )
card used to buy goods or services for 10 , 000 + rubles a month or 2 ) 50 , 000 + rubles kept on the current and savings account balance or 3 ) monthly salary ( 20 , 000 + rubles ) transferred to the card . in all other cases , the monthly fee will be just 150 rubles .
card . customers can earn bonuses in any stores , but the process will be much faster in o ' key . the points can be redeemed at any time , they will not get lost . clients can check how many points they have earned by accessing their loyalty program account . it will be easy to comply with the conditions of a free card service given the wide range and high quality of products in the o ' key hypermarkets .
o ' key is one of the largest retail chains in russia . its primary retail format is the modern western european style hypermarket under the
o ' key
brand reinforced by o ' key supermarket . the group is developing the innovative discounter format under the
da !
brand . o ' key is the first among russian food retailers to launch e - commerce operations in st . petersburg and moscow based on hypermarket assortment .
the group opened its first hypermarket in st . petersburg in 2002 and has demonstrated continuous growth ever since . as of december 19 , 2016 , o ' key operates 162 stores across russia - 74 hypermarkets , 36 supermarkets and 52 discounters
part of societe generale group . strategy of societe generale is basic on further improvement of client service and maintenance of leadership in innovation , capturing growth through business development , increased synergies , and delivery of sustainable profitability .
the bronze prize in the nomination
best trade bank in russia and the cis
( tfr awards , 2015 ) .
societe generale is one of the largest european financial services groups . based on a diversified universal banking model , the group combines financial solidity with a strategy of sustainable growth , and aims to be the reference for relationship banking , recognised on its markets , close to clients , chosen for the quality and commitment of its teams .
societe generale has been playing a vital role in the economy for 150 years . with more than 145 , 000 employees , based in 66 countries , we accompany 31 million clients throughout the world on a daily basis . societe generale ' s teams offer advice and services to individual , corporate and institutional customers in three core businesses :
societe generale is included in the main socially responsible investment indices : djsi ( world and europe ) , ftse4good ( global and europe ) , euronext vigeo ( europe , eurozone and france ) , esi excellence ( europe ) from ethibel and 4 of the stoxx esg leaders indices .
, is a technology company in the global payments industry . we operate the world ' s fastest payments processing network , connecting consumers , financial institutions , merchants , governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories . mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping , traveling , running a business and managing finances - easier , more secure and more efficient for everyone . follow us on twitter
mastercard contactless is an innovative technology for payment in one touch that provides a fast , safe and convenient way of paying for everyday purchases . there is no need to pass a contactless - enabled card or other device ( smartphone , sticker , watch ) to the cashier - you just tap it at a contactless - enabled pos - terminal . no pin or check signing required for purchases under 1000 rubles . mastercard contactless is accepted in over 6 bln points - of - sales in 77 countries ( 42 of them in europe ) .
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urltoken
nuestra familia - renewed organization . . . of the norteños stated that the gang ' s leaders resided in pelican bay state prison in california the relocation of the five leaders led to confusion among its members . . . in decades that the norteños had a single leader at the helm of their criminal organization . . . arnold schwarzenegger has complained that keeping the five remaining gang leaders located in the same prison continues to add to california gang violence , and that they should be . . .
list of presidents of peru - history . . . years of independence , peru has been ruled by the military leaders who fought for independence , the leaders of the war of the pacific , representatives of the aristocracy , and . . .
religious leaders by year . . . this is a list of the leaders of major religions in any given year . . . leaders by year state religious international organization colonial governors incumbents british canadian lists of office - holders . . .
1971 jvp insurrection - the revolt . . . and the growing pressure of police investigations , other jvp leaders decided to act immediately , and they agreed to begin the uprising at 1100 p . m . . . insurrection was hasty and poorly coordinated some of the district leaders were not informed until the morning of the uprising . . . security forces throughout the island were put on alert and a number of jvp leaders went into hiding without bothering to inform their subordinates of the changed circumstances . . .
vailala madness - strict moral code . . . such offenses would be rectified by fines levied by the leaders of the movement . . . to discover who had committed any sin , these leaders organized divining ceremonies which involved a very large log , held by several men , which was said to have . . . several of the leaders were in fact jailed , for an unknown period of time . . .
the rank and file have let their servants become their masters and dictators . . . . provision should be made in all union constitutions for the recall of
. big salaries should not be paid . career hunters should be driven out , as well as
who use labor for political ends . these types are menaces to the advancement of labor .
no matter how vast , how total , the failure of man here on earth , the work of man will be resumed elsewhere . war
talk of resuming operations on this front and that , but mans front embraces the whole universe .
markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes . © the financial times ltd . ft and ‘financial times’ are trademarks of the financial times ltd . the financial times and its journalism are subject to a self - regulation regime under the ft editorial code of practice .
the deal , a key part of socgen ' s strategy to expand in emerging markets , came as it unveiled a e2 . 4 billion ( r23 billion ) rights issue of shares to help finance acquisitions .
if socgen exercises the option , it will gain control of what would be russia ' s largest foreign - owned bank , displacing raiffeisen , for $ 2 . 3 billion .
the transaction will allow socgen to take advantage of the strong growth in russia ' s retail banking market over the next few years ,
the french bank said .
analysts speculated that the socgen deal might have received the blessing of country leaders during last week ' s meeting in france between france ' s president jacques chirac and russia ' s president vladimir putin .
no major deal happens at the moment without the knowledge of the kremlin and i think such deals may be approved at the highest level ,
said alexei dyomkin , an analyst at trust bank in moscow . - reuters
it is worth mentioning here that the present leaders in terms of attracting deposits from the russian population are : sberbank ( 638 . 78 billion rubles and 70 . 12 % of the market ) , alfa - bank ( 20 . 59 billion rubles and 2 . 26 % of the market ) , the bank of moscow ( 14 . 79 billion rubles and 1 . 64 % of the market ) .
an israeli air force fighter struck the t4 airbase in syria ' s homs province . the syrian air defense system shot down the aircraft
when reproducing our materials in whole or in part , hyperlink to pravda . ru should be made . the opinions and views of the authors do not always coincide with the point of view of pravda . ru ' s editors .
copyright © moscow exchange , 2011 - 2018 . all the rights for the information and analytical materials published on this website are protected in compliance with the russian legislation . before you start using the website , please read user agreement carefully . display , distribution or any other use of the information published on the exchange’s website or any of its parts is allowed only upon receiving prior written authorization from the exchange .
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ment banking , treasury related operations , trade finance , asset management , private banking , custody and depositary services , international and domestic settlement services and credit card services . the company operates 600 offices and numerous automated teller machines ( atm ) , as well as a number of branches located in 70 regions of the russian federation .
all content on urltoken is for your general information and use only and is not intended to address your particular requirements . in particular , the content does not constitute any form of advice , recommendation , representation , endorsement or arrangement by ft and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making ( or refraining from making ) any specific investment or other decisions .
any information that you receive via urltoken is at best delayed intraday data and not
real time
. share price information may be rounded up / down and therefore not entirely accurate . ft is not responsible for any use of content by you outside its scope as stated in the ft terms & conditions .
although markit has made every effort to ensure this data is correct , nevertheless no guarantee is given to the accuracy or completeness . any opinions or estimates expressed herein are those of markit on the date of preparation and are subject to change without notice ; however no such opinions or estimates constitute legal , investment or other advice . you must therefore seek independent legal , investment or other appropriate advice from a suitably qualified and / or authorised and regulated advisor prior to making any legal , investment or other decision . this is intended for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or recommendation to buy , sell or otherwise deal in securities .
usd 150 million syndicated loan under a / b structure , with ebrd finance of usd 50 million .
the project aims to assist the bank in developing its business in favour of ( i ) private sector small and medium sized enterprises ( sme ) operating in the russian federation and of ( ii ) retail customers with an offering of residential mortgage products . through syndication , the project will also contribute in further diversification of the bank’s funding base .
the proposed project is expected to foster competition in the banking sector by giving borrowers in different regions across russia greater choice in accessing banking products which best fit their needs .
through benchmarks for high standards of corporate governance , business practices and financial discipline , the project will further contribute to institutional building of the bank .
ebrd’s involvement in the syndicated loan transaction will contribute to broadening the range of financing partners and lengthening the maturities of funding provided by commercial banks .
the pip sets out how the ebrd discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies , policies and operations . please visit the public information policy page below to find out how to request a public sector board report . text of the pip
the project complaint mechanism ( pcm ) is the ebrd ' s accountability mechanism . it provides an opportunity for an independent review of complaints from individuals and organisations concerning ebrd - financed projects which are alleged to have caused , or are likely to cause , environmental and / or social harm .
please visit the project complaint mechanism page to find information about how to submit a complaint . the pcm officer ( pcm @ urltoken ) is available to answer any questions you may have regarding the submission of a complaint and criteria for registration and eligibility , in accordance with the pcm rules of procedure .
alfa - bank retailing division of alfa - bank was established for private customers and small enterprises . urltoken
raiffeisen bank the wholly - owned bank subsidiary of the austrian banking group raiffeisen . the bank has been operating in russia since 1996 and renders the full range of services to russian companies and private persons . urltoken
mdm - bank the bank renders the whole range of banking services up to the world standard , constantly widens and perfects the banking products it offers . urltoken
international moscow bank the russian bank with the international partnership specializing in servicing the corporate and private customers , in corporate financing , and in treasury operations . urltoken
sibcontact bank sibcontact bank has been functioning as the universal bank for 13 years . it provides full services to legal bodies and physical bodies using the most innovative patterns of banking technologies . urltoken
impexbank the universal commercial bank is one of the top - thirty largest banks of russia in terms of its assets and capital amount and is one of the top - ten largest retailing banks . the bank is the member of the state system of the endowment insurance . urltoken
траст trust national bank the bank is among the thirty largest credit institutions of the country . it renders the full range of the commercial and banking services to the corporate and private customers . urltoken
rosevrobank the bank provides the full range of banking services rendered in the russian and foreign currencies and the widest range of services for doing business and savings . urltoken
transcreditbank established in november 1992 transcreditbank is the major financial partner of ojsc «russian railways» and the leading bank in the russian transport sphere . transcreditbank is among top - 30 largest financial institutions of russia . urltoken
credit bank of moscow operating since 1992 credit bank of moscow dynamically develops and offers a wide range of retail and corporate banking services to its customers . one of its business priorities are car loans programs . urltoken
banque societe generale vostok joint stock commercial bank «banque societe generale vostok» was established in 1993 in moscow . as a universal bank it offers a full range of banking products and services to its individual and corporate customers . urltoken
vozrozhdenie bank vozrozhdenie bank provides financial services to its individual and corporate customers throughout the russian federation . its network includes 151 locations and 470 atms . the bank provides 1 , 000 , 000 clients with a range of services from savings accounts , payment handling and payroll management to mortgages , bank cards . urltoken
company of the retailing crediting the dynamically developing financial holding established to fulfill long - term projects at the russian automobile market . urltoken


the bloom cigar company is an iconic and internationally known pittsburgh-based premium cigar store .

founded in 1955 , bloom cigar company is the pittsburgh area 's largest retail and wholesale distributor of cigars .

a weekly informal gathering of cigar aficionados and a unique ambiance contribute to its reputation .

bloom cigar company

ernesto padilla is the owner of padilla cigar co . , a cigar company launched in early 2003 .
3 . cigar camp at bloom ' s – visit bloom cigar company ( 54 s . 12th street ) on saturdays for cigar camp . from noon to 7 p . m . , campers learn about cigars , eat , smoke , drink and enjoy each other ' s company . newcomers are welcome . byob .
nick melillo of foundation cigar co . speaks about his career in the cigar industry
marc adams , owner of the bloom cigar co . in south side ' s bedford square and the cigar supplier for primanti , said it¹s too early to tell yet if the smoking ban will inspire other cigar bar ventures .
welcome to the official site of bloom cigar company ! in business 60 years . honesty , integrity , and commitment to your satisfaction . peruse the cigars , place an order and get a surprise premium !
robert caldwell , the face of caldwell cigar co . , on his company’s past , recent collaborations and future goals .
co - worker took me to @ bloom _ cigar to find some father ' s day goodies for tor . such a cool place ! # southside urltoken
kratsas said the company supports the smoking ban overall and has no plans to convert any primanti brothers restaurants into cigar bars .
each year , the pittsburgh - based
wild women on wheels
( wwow ) motorcycle club hosts an annual cigar camp ride to bloom ' s cigar company , a pittsburgh cigar shop . now in its sixth year , cigar camp riders met this year at spirit harley - davidson in glenshaw , pa . in may for the ride to bloom ' s cigars , in pittsburg ' s south side . bloom ' s owner , mark adams , hosts the annual event , providing sidewalk seating , premium parking spaces , and a gourmet seafood spread , including the group favorite - fresh crab legs .
bloom is just one of those places . i came in not knowing what to expect and left not knowing what exactly happened , lol . looking for something to do on a slow saturday , we decided to give bloom . . .
it ' s not a bias situation . my week generally goes : smoke three of cigar a for a review , smoke three of cigar b for a review , smoke one or two of cigar c for the start of a review for the next week , try cigar d because i ' m curious , try cigar e because someone gave it to me , smoke cigar f because it ' s in the travel humidor and i finished cigar e .
the largest retail and wholesale cigar store in pittsburgh , pa and home of cigar camp . in business since the 1920 ' s .
i once had someone threaten to sue the website over a review of another company ' s product .
nope . once we decide to review a cigar—i . e . get the cigar , photograph it , ship it to the reviewer—the only way we will not review it is if we find out something is wrong with the cigar .
the tobacco trust , american tobacco / cigar company , havana - american , henry clay & bock & co . and other descendants and offshoots to be sorted out later . volunteers welcome .
bloom ' s cigar , behind jack rose ' s bar , has long hung brassieres from their ceiling . they have apparently expanded their territory , i was crossing the hot metal earlier today , and they have hung bras across the bridge .
of labels from 200 + different custom brands under which his cigar was currently selling in similar nw 20 / 10 minimally trimmed boxes . no other company is known to use a similar box .
most memorable cigar i ' ve reviewed this year ? padrón 1926 serie no . 48 . for all the wrong reasons , how was that cigar this bad .
cigar dave . i don ' t think i need to explain this one .
no , not them . local company hangs 4 , 000 bras from hot metal bridge - news story - wpxi pittsburgh
now we keep hearing about the big
sell offs
that may or may not happen , but what value does a brand that is having low to moderate success have to a bigger company ? i would think the person behind the cigar could be more valuable than the cigar line .
love all the drew estate lines . great company and great cigars .
—december 29 , 2013 15 : 43 pm
aarau , switzerland - the world ' s first cigar lounge named after jazz musician and cigar namesake avo uvezian opened in january in the picturesque old town of aarau , switzerland .
with overall lid and outer label used as inner . cigar box using inexpensive monochromatic labels .
because that ' s the cigar industry and so much of the business is misinformed themselves .
you have a lot of acid smokers out there ,
says drew . he believes it could be perhaps the fourth - largest handmade cigar brand sold in the united states . it ' s certainly drew estate ' s biggest and best - known cigar , accounting for some 40 percent of the company ' s annual sales , which drew says are about $ 30 million a year . whether the cigar really is a top - five brand in the u . s . cigar market is debatable , but one thing is certain—drew estate makes an awful lot of them , cigar retailers sell a ton of them , and cigar smokers know and buy acid cigars in very large quantities .
cigar boxes were usually delivered from the box company to the customer by horse and buggy , train , or canal barge wrapped in brown paper bundles tied with cord . a bundle could contain any number of boxes , usually in units of 50 or 100 depending on the size of the cigar factory’s order . it was not unusual for a cigar factory to place standing orders such as “ship 5 , 000 every two weeks . ”
i ' m going to be honest , i cannot think of a ton of
gained notoriety at company a then went on to start their own company b
guys . jon huber , nicholas melillo , steve saka , leaf by oscar , sam leccia ( ? ) .
cigars made in fact . 3 , 1st tax district of pa by the east prospect cigar co .
depends on the cigar , but generally 67 - 69 . more on that can be found here .
ages ago , i co - founded a tiny record company with leon sidell called walden records , emphasizing the neglected songs of great american songwriters .
© cigar aficionado online , m . shanken communications , inc . all rights reserved . return to top .
gold standard cigars by wirth’s cigar co . , london whiffs cigars by marcus feder , fact . 531 ,
the birth of the smaller dominican cigar companies , particularly ones without factories that sell locally within the island .
bloom cigar company 54 south 12th street pittsburgh , pa15203 1 - 800 - 373 - 5681 hours : mon . - fri . : 9 : 30 - 6 : 00 sat . : 12 - 6 : 00 sun . : you kidding ? website : urltoken located in pittsburgh ' s south side district , bloom ' s is a very laid back and eccentric place to enjoy a cigar . these old guys have been around forever - and it shows . they really know their smokes . you will always find locals just lounging around , reading a few
adult
magazines , enjoying a fine cigar while watching a game and talking . check out the web site - the joint is not fancy , but it is a very relaxing place . if you are in town on saturday , check out cigar camp - noon until 6 . there are usually food and drinks laid out to
graze
on while you smoke . you may find a more fancy place , but you won ' t find a better smoker friendly atmosphere in town .
[ right ] cigars made by ullman , bloom & co . , a 115 roller factory ( 272 , 6th tax district ) in dayton , oh , for jno . a . gorly & co . , st . louis , mo 1885
corona cigar company held a first anniversary celebration of the opening of its orlando retail store and world headquarters with a
cuban fiesta .
tabacalera perdomo founder nick perdomo , jr . was a special guest at the event , which took place on saturday , june 28th . also featured was a master cigar roller from tabacalera perdomo demonstrating the art of handcrafting premium cigars , a five - piece cuban salsa band , wine and port tastings , and cuban and other foods . attendees enjoyed special deals including free handrolled cigars and perdomo baseball caps with purchases of any perdomo brands . perdomo , who presided over corona cigar ' s grand opening last year , offered a poignant account of his family ' s arduous cigar making odyssey and his candid views on the premium cigar industry .
daddy daycare ! jared kushner takes kids back to d . c . after weekend in new jersey - as ivanka dons a short dress for visit to a nyc asphalt company
the august issue of cigar aficionado —featuring star matthew mcconaughey on the cover—made an appearance on abc’s
good morning america .
the mural in the loading dock is only the second - largest mural at la gran fabrica drew estate . the biggest one , some 50 feet high , shows a tableau of cigar rolling , tobacco growing , even a dove with a banner of peace in its beak . it ' s eye grabbing . the same artists created the décor inside , and are the power behind the in - house art studio known as subculture , blasting out artwork of all sorts . ( a recent promotion for the cigar industry tradeshow involved decorated sneakers that were given to cigar shops that placed sizeable orders . the shoes were a huge hit . ) other cigar companies receive visitors—drew estate hosts what it calls the
cigar safari .
and this cigar factory is almost certainly the only one that includes a swimming pool .
i have not smoke a cigar drew estates makes that i did not like .
—june 8 , 2014 20 : 54 pm
cigar factories in nicaragua are operating once again , as the country’s nationwide , 24 - hour labor strike staged last week has ended .
favorite cigar i ' ve reviewed this year ? none immediately came to mind . looking over the list of things i ' ve reviewed , the davidoff yamasá piramide is the highest score i believe i ' ve given to any new cigar i reviewed . interestingly , the crux pb5 limitada appears to be the highest cigar i rated . brian reviewed it , but we each rate every top 25 candidate individually .
a major new “wing” is under construction here at hyman’s national cigar museum which will feature more than 2 , 000 examples of the most popular 50 themes in cigar advertising , custom labels , and vanity labels used between 1860 and 1960 . click < here > to visit .
a virtual lounge for all of your cigar needs . come in , pick out a smoke , and sit down and enjoy the conversation of other enthusiasts as we discuss our favorite smokes and pairings , news and latest releases in the cigar industry , and much , much more . conversation isn ' t always cigar - related at the closest thing you will find to your local b & m without leaving your house !
boyd coddington was also an entrepreneur with a driven desire to build his company and see his goal become reality . in the 1980 ' s , boyd literally re invented the wheel by creating the billet wheel for hot rods . coddington and long - time friend lil ' john buttera found they could machine practically anything they needed from solid aluminum . it was coddington who took the idea and made it commercially viable . in the 1990 ' s , his hot rod shop and wheel company had grown and was so successful that he took the company public in an i . p . o . on nasdaq .
the girls have been coming here for the last six years , and they ' re always a draw ,
says mark adam , owner of bloom ' s .
there ' s no better group of women . the girls come in , grab a cigar from the humidor , and make themselves at home . i ' ve never seen a group better demonstrate camaraderie . they all know each other ' s first name , they all know each other ' s lives - good and bad . i wish i had a group of guys to hang out with like the girls . the guys here love ' the biker chicks , ' and taking care of the girls is my tribute to them .
while wwow ' s motorcycle event is held only once a year , bloom holds
cigar camp
every weekend with food , drink , and cigars , often drawing up to hundreds of participants .
search our database of more than 17 , 000 cigar tasting notes by score , brand , price range , country , size , year and more .
drew estate was built on big dreams , and the cigar guys behind it have plans to be even larger . at full capacity , the factory could produce almost twice what it ' s doing now , some 130 , 000 cigars a day . and the company is considering expanding across the street , with another 30 , 000 feet of space for tobacco processing .
cigar makers usually order trim through their box maker , tho the cigar industry is so huge that generalizations are impossible . some bought directly from printers , others bought left - overs from failed factories . salesmen representing cigar factories that specialized in custom brands might carry sample books of trim to show to customers , especially in the fall when orders for christmas packaging would be placed . wherever a cigar factory was located , a box maker wasn’t far away . when large numbers of cigar factories were clustered in areas like cincinnati or the ny finger lakes , regional printer / box makers like f . m howell ( elmira , ny , 1880 , seen above ) were established to meet demand . by 1900 , more than 200 cigar box makers and label printers served the industry . altho inexpensive labels could be ( and were ) printed anywhere about 10 major printers located in nyc and philadelphia dominated the fancy label market .
this box is especially rare because the top reads that the cigars inside were “manufactured by the cigar machine corporation of america” and given away at a convention or trade show to demonstrate how good machine made cigars were in 1916 , the year before the first such machine was put into commercial cigar factory operation .
cigars by j . w . gohn cigar co . , fact . cigars by united cigar , fact . cigars by j . h . fink , fact . 1220 , 396 , 9th pa ( east prospect ) 1903 . 1116 , 3rd nyc c1905 . cut 1st pa ( allentown ) c1922 . only full
uvezian launched the avo cigar brand 1988 in new york . sales reached 100 , 000 in the first year , and today average around three million annually .
going to be tough to beat smoking a cigar on a beach on a beautiful day with the only noise being the waves and your cellphone back in the room . you could smoke a significantly better cigar , but if you are having a bad day it very likely won ' t be as good to you .
one thing that i haven ' t seen a lot of talk about online , is the potential crop of well respected
free agents
that could be available very soon . with the fda expenses looming , i can only assume some of the
gained notoriety at company a then went on to start their own company b
type of guys may not survive the regs , and will be looking to get back in with some companies .
bloom is an awesome spot . i stopped in there on my last trip to pitt last month and picked up some recommended tatuaje ' s & la gloria cubana series r . i ' ll definitely go back to this unique spot with a huge long humidor with bras hanging from the ceiling . must help with the humidity .
one of the ideas drew worked on would become a cigar known as acid , named for the artist scott
acid
chester . ( that ' s his spiky hair in the acid silhouette . ) you won ' t find this extremely nontraditional cigar rated in the pages of cigar aficionado . this magazine would classify the cigar as flavored ( a category we decline to rate ) , but drew prefers the term
infused .
we don ' t use the ‘f ' word ,
he says .
we ' ve never once met with a professional flavoring company .
acids borrow taste from oils , botanicals , herbs and even red wine . the shapes are also unconventional—fat figurados with extra long pigtails that could double as a fuses on old bombs . the names are just as unusual : atom maduro . cold infusion . extra ordinary larry .
nat sherman international , which was acquired last year by tobacco giant altria group inc . , has announced that it is restructuring its portfolio of premium cigar brands .
always enjoy a visit to bloom . staff is probably the most knowledgeable in the tri - state area , hands down . the ambiance speaks
man cave
. the selection of smokes is unmatched in the area . bring your favorite bourbon or scotch , pick a stick , grab a leather chair and sit back and enjoy .
in the film , mangrum , who had risen from a farm boy to become the owner of his own tractor - manufacturing company , is facing a hostile takeover by a conglomerate . to keep his company , he’s written a worthless check to buy some outstanding stock . he has just hours to find £153 , 750 to cover the check , but , fogbound at heathrow , he can’t use his considerable charm to persuade anyone to give him the money .
kernels was a small los angeles cigar factory with 20 latina rollers in the 1950’s . they made one type cigar , a small dark strongly favored offering selling for 7¢ nearly every - where cigars were sold in southern california . inside their factory was a small table top printing press cranking out monochromatic labels by the thousands , serving everyone who wanted the opportunity to offer a custom brand . in 1955 , the owner gave fellow cigar box collector howard richards ( now esq . ) a selection
drew estate , the cigars it makes and the men who founded it are the most unlikely of cigar - industry survivor stories , one that began in downtown manhattan .
drew estate is now a major presence in the cigar market , with a broad product portfolio , making everything from tiny tinned smokes to hefty , heavy - bodied double coronas . the size of the portfolio and the range of cigar quality allows the company to buy tobacco in large chunks , rather than piecemeal .
now everything we do is a crop purchase ,
says drew . buying in bulk allows the company to sort on its own , pick out the finer things for higher - end production and use lesser - quality leaves on cheaper products .
everything about a cigar factory is moving it up , not down ,
says drew . the goal is to buy binder leaves , sort them , and find gems that can be wrappers . experience has taught them to be hands - on in their tobacco buying .
we don ' t ship any tobacco from any country until we check the bales , and nick watches them load the truck ,
says drew .
for a time , that future looked in jeopardy . in september 2008 , drew estate ran into money problems . caught with too many cigars , too many projects , and with the world financial crisis in full bloom , the company ' s lenders began cutting drew estate ' s credit .
we were overproduced to the tune of two or three million units ,
says drew . the bank reigned in more than $ 1 million worth of the company ' s credit , forcing drew estate to lay off more than 100 workers .
that was the blackest moment , other than the early days ,
says drew .
we ' ve gone through a tremendous amount of struggles ,
says samel . rumors began to swirl that the company was going on the auction block .
we worked through that with help from some of our dearest suppliers ,
says drew .
friends who lent us some money .
he says the financial scare taught him to be more disciplined with his business moves , with better communication between accounting , production and marketing .
the new cigar bar has been outfitted with a humidor that will soon offer 50 different kinds of cigars , with hopes to eventually include more than 100 , kratsas said .
housing values continue to climb as newcomers move to the flats and slopes . but did you know that south siders attend cigar camp , that there are 10 , 000 city steps in the slopes , or that the first kaufmann ' s was in south side ? as part of its yearlong 21st birthday celebration , south side local development company thought up 21 things that you probably never knew about the south side !
i ' d also like to ask you about your view on plume / bloom . there are continual debates over plume versus mold , and many of us have encountered shop owners who swear the fungus growing on the cigars sitting next to a humidifier cranked to 11 is the sign of proper aging or instagram users proudly showing off petri dish cigars . why do you think this misinformation has persisted , and do you think the cigar community will ever reach a consensus with regard to rarity , composition , conditions , and benefit ?
call acids strange , but they sell . discounting the brands that are made specifically for his stores , acids are the biggest seller ( by single stick sales ) for borysiewicz ' s corona cigar co . , which sells an awful lot of cigars .
you ' d be surprised who buys them ,
says borysiewicz .
from the younger generation to middle - aged guys . most of them buy it as a change - of - pace cigar . it ' s also a really good beginner cigar .
i ' m glad you guys don ' t do video reviews , can ' t stand them . who really wants to watch some dude smoke a cigar and talk about it ? maybe it ' s because i do most of my cigar related reading during work and can ' t really watch videos but i never got the point of them .
jim is a cigar connoisseur ,
kratsas said .
it just so happened that the blue note was a separate bar area , and it just works out .
at argentina’s world cup match on june 16 against iceland , diego maradona was in the limelight again for bending the rules , smoking a cigar in a non - smoking stadium .
“my company’s relationship with davidoff is still blossoming and i’m very excited to be working with them , ” he assures . “they’ve always treated me like family . although they’re contracted to manufacturing and distribution , i still view our relationship as a strategic partnership . ”
drew estate certainly puts money into tobacco . in a cigar world where making puros ( cigars made entirely with tobacco from one country ) is a bragging point , drew estate goes the other way .
we make a blended product—we blend with two , three , four different countries . we like fillers ,
says drew . ligas , for example , are made from a four - nation blend of tobacco . walking into a sizeable warehouse full of cigar tobacco , drew says ,
this is nothing—this is six to eight weeks of production .
he then begins pointing out the leaves in stock .
we ' ve got connecticut , indonesia , brazil . . . .
melillo says the company has 900 , 000 pounds of tobacco in inventory . saka says drew estate has
40 different [ cigar ] blends—we use 32 in current production .
burton’s entire family—he had 10 surviving brothers and sisters—adored sybil , and that was important to burton . as long as he was with her , he was connected to his welsh roots . over the years she had put up with his infidelities ( with actresses jean simmons , claire bloom , and susan strasberg , among others ) , because he always came back . that is , until he met elizabeth .
i think jonathan is brilliant ,
says jeff borysiewicz , the owner and founder of mega - cigar retailer corona cigar co . of orlando , florida . michael argenti of berger & argenti cigars calls jon
one of the smartest guys in the business .
josé orlando padrón , the dean of nicaraguan cigarmaking and the polar opposite of drew , affectionately calls him
el gringo loco .
if your cigar box is plastered all over with paper labels and stickers , you probably have what the industry calls a “nailed wood” box that has been “trimmed . ” trim is the generic word for all the paper labels and printed matter that adorns the standard cigar box . boxmakers and collectors call them nw boxes . 70 % of the one trillion cigars made in the u . s . before 1940 were packed in more than ten billion trimmed nailed wood boxes , averaging a phenomenal one - hundred million nw cigar boxes every year for a century ! in 1914 , one of the few years for which reasonably good records are available , 233 , 355 , 000 wooden cigar boxes were manufactured and used . no wonder there are so many around for collectors to enjoy . [ 4280 ] [ 4281 ]
“before namakubi , we were doing poorly , ” booth admits . “but then we released it and we had 600 percent increase growth instantly . the release of namakubi was , without a doubt , the biggest turning point for the company . since then , we’ve only been growing . ”
la gran fabrica drew estate , the nicaraguan headquarters of drew and samel ' s company mirrors the artistic vision of both men , with pillars , terra cotta rooftops , balconies , arches , guest rooms , art throughout all of the facilities—even the loading dock . this 96 , 000 - square - foot operation is one of the world ' s bigger cigar factories . designed spanish grenada style on a rise overlooking tobacco fields , it makes about 68 , 000 cigars a day , 16 million a year , according to the people who run it . that would make this company the second largest producer of cigars in nicaragua . most of the cigars are nontraditional smokes , infused with botanicals , coffee or other flavorings , and many of them are small , but every one is crafted by hand .
“i contacted the factory and told them about the problem . you know what they said ? i was told that there were some ‘issues with the cigar’ but that the ‘issue had corrected itself . ’ corrected itself ? i thought that was a very peculiar response . i understand that tobacco needs to marry once the cigar is rolled and that they’ll always need some time , but these problems went way beyond that . ”
this is my second ama , i did one a year ago . a lot has changed in a year , fda has obviously become the focal point for many in the cigar industry as well as consumers .
while drew and samel are the majority partners , eight people own a chunk of drew estate , including saka , vice president of sales michael cellucci and nicholas melillo , drew estate ' s director of tobacco and production . drew says he has
never taken money out of the company .
the cigar was a blend of honduran and dominican tobacco with a honduran - grown wrapper that booth says was a hybrid strain of dominican and honduran seeds . it was called room101 and debuted at the 2009 international premium cigar & pipe retailers trade show . booth came to the show with samples of his new brand , and they made a good enough impression to secure several orders . but issues arose when the customers began receiving shipments . “what they ended up receiving was not the same cigar as the samples they first tried , ” says booth . “not only was it not the same , it wasn’t even any good . they either had burn issues or were bitter , or both . i got all the negative feedback from the irate cigar - store owners who told me how it was totally different from what they first smoked at the show .
one of the last things you’ll find going down broadway in downtown los angeles is an actual broadway show . from third to ninth streets , broadway is home to the country’s largest collection of aging , ornate prewar movie palaces and theaters . the exteriors bloom with architectural flourishes and golden - age glamour , but most are nothing more than defunct temples of nostalgia as they loom over what is now l . a . ’s jewelry district .
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“cigar camp does feed you though - there ' s usually ribs , corn bread , pulled pork , slaw , potato chips , all supplied by mark ( with a required purchase of course . ” in 2 reviews
almost ever cigar ends up with at least a month of rest on them at least before we review them . that ' s due to the travel times and the rest we try to give them to recover .
the real deal . there ' s not a better human being alive than jonathan drew . steve once asked me for my address , because i had my first cracking wrapper in a drew estate cigar , after smoking hundreds ! the president willing to replace one cigar ! ( i passed , it smoked and tasted perfectly ) . stand up guys who love cigars and the brothers and sisters of the leaf who smoke them . . . whether you smoke de products or not . they are everything that is good about the cigar industry , business in general , and the epitome of the american dream .
—february 25 , 2012 02 : 55 am
the real deal . there ' s not a better human being alive than jonathan drew . steve once asked me for my address , because i had my first cracking wrapper in a drew estate cigar , after smoking hundreds ! the president willing to replace one cigar ! ( i passed , it smoked and tasted perfectly ) . stand up guys who love cigars and the brothers and sisters of the leaf who smoke them . . . whether you smoke de products or not . they are everything that is good about the cigar industry , business in general , and the epitome of the american dream .
—february 25 , 2012 02 : 54 am
[ 11040 ] , hot shot , hunter’s selection , jolly clown , king dutch , midway , oakmonts , old sports , our country’s pride cheroots , pittsburg smoke , pittsburg special , pocahontas , princeton puffs , pumpkin pie , puritan , reveille , saw logs , seal of west virginia , schenley park bouquet , schoolboy , silver dollar , sole agent , spotted friends , sunflower , star pittsburgh , town talk , tropical flowers , whip - poor - will “and any other brands , private , special or otherwise , that are manufactured by the american stogie company for your firm . ” brands from 1905 company list .
but in the weeks that followed , her comeback bloom began to wilt . martha , her daytime program , delivered ratings 20 % below expectations . that means mslo , which owns the show , will have to compensate advertisers with free ads in the coming months . the apprentice , meanwhile , registered only six million to seven million viewers in its first installments , about half the audience trump garnered a year earlier . critics began saying that mslo had overextended the martha brand - - and investors reacted . the company ' s shares plummeted from $ 33 in mid - september to $ 20 a month later . when mslo reported another quarterly loss in late october and lyne indicated that the next quarter would be weaker than wall street expected , the stock dipped to $ 18 .
missed this . nope , i reviewed the rodrigo la fortaleza and mentioned that there was a prerelease event at butthead ' s , a retailer in connecticut . at that event , another cigar called kevin michaels cigars was offered .
an institution on the southside and deserving of its reputation as the grand daddy of cigar stores in pittsburgh . parking can be tough but hey , it ' s south side . parking is tough everywhere . once in , you ' re greeted by a dense wave of cigar smoke from a cadre of regulars who seem to be anchored in the beaten up chairs with piles of cigar ash surrounding them and a din of , at times , animated
conversation
. i always feel like i ' m interrupting something when i walk in . but the humidor is large , the selection is very good - including their own branded cigar which is excellent - and the prices are on par with just about anywhere else . if you ' re looking for a few cigars , it ' s worth braving the intrusion into a smoking party you weren ' t invited to and go on in to the humidor .
booth’s next project was called room101 conjura ltd . although it only had a small production run of 40 , 000 cigars , he was much more involved in the process , taking a larger role in blending and trying to be more of a presence in the factory . these cigars were box - pressed with a sumatra wrapper that enveloped honduran and dominican tobacco . two of the sizes scored 93 points in cigar insider , the cigar industry newsletter from cigar aficionado . “i had a lot of help blending the ltd . line , but i was also more confident in the process , ” says booth , who , by this time , was at the factory on a monthly basis .
avo created the pilot lounge in collaboration with cigar retailer and fervent avo cigar admirer otto fischer . the design , fittings , and overall look of the elegant lounge were developed jointly with uvezian . when planning the lounge concept , particular care was taken to ensure that the project could be reproduced elsewhere ; additional locations are already under consideration . the recurring theme is an avo lounge logo in pale blue , created specifically for the avo smokers ' lounge concept .
( 1924 ? ) and more than 100 other cuban brands remained in cuba under trust ownership , but were gradually shut down . the cigars of some of the world’s most famous cigar brands ended up made in the same factory .
i think a lot can be said for what guys normally reach for when digging through the humidor . that being said what is your go to daily cigar and what is your i ' m going to smoke something special stick ?
not sure wut to smoke ? ask sam . decent cigar selection , all under $ 11 . byob , not byoc . pool table , hd tvs , bring ur friends and poker chips for some hold ' em upstairs .
the kiosk wasn ' t much , but drew and samel showed signs of style and flash early on—the company phone line in the cart was an attractive antique , something from drew ' s mother , an antiques dealer . they did fine selling to consumers , but when they began selling to other cigar shops they didn ' t take all their expenses into account—every sale they made at the wholesale level was putting them in the red .
when we added up all of our costs , we were actually losing money by selling wholesale to other shops ,
says samel .
in the midst of hammering out a deal with camacho , something happened unexpectedly—camacho was bought out by davidoff . it was surprising to booth , but it had little affect on the terms of his agreement with camacho . furthermore , he was enthused to be associated with davidoff , a company with a luxury lifestyle philosophy that he’d always admired .
drew estate may be open about a lot of subjects , but the acid cigar line is not one of them . the company protects its infusion process , and says very little about it . samel claims only four people in the world know the entire process . drew is mum about the details of how his acids and other infused smokes get their flavors , but he does claim to use top - quality ingredients , beginning with good tobacco .
when you think of flavored cigars you think of short - fill , quick - flavored cigars ,
drew says .
it takes a long time to do things right .
( the fact that acids are different from the typical grape - or cherry - flavored cigar makes drew estate feel they wouldn ' t be subject to any type of ban that might befall flavored smokes . )
it ' s not that we don ' t want to be first , it just does us no good . we review the cigar , it scores something that isn ' t what the manufacturer wants and the manufacturer says
why did you review this , it wasn ' t ready , these were rushed production .
i ' m also not sure it does consumers any good , we reviewed a cigar a year or two before it actually started shipping—those cigars aren ' t going to be the same .
been buying and smoking acid for a dozen years . have not found another cigar i would rather smoke day in day out besides acid . have over 1000 acid ' s in my humidor right now .
—june 5 , 2012 01 : 09 am
some of the survived made it through the 1920 , then hit the depression , devastating to the medium and high priced cigar market . only 5 % of cigars sold in the 1930s cost more than 5¢ . strong post - world war ii lorillard brands :
i love this place ! i was in town on a fluke . i ' ve visited this cigar shop for a sale . sam and roger knew exactly what i needed . i will definitely be back . excellent service plus you can get some . . .
take one look at jonathan drew and you ' d never think he was the head of a cigar company . with his blue - or tangerine - tinted eyeglasses , ever - present flood - level pants , sandals and new york accent , one would sooner place him as a hipster artist or poet than a guy who makes his living overseeing the production of tens of millions of cigars per year . with his new , thick , wild beard to go along with his colorful style of dress , the man behind acid , liga privada and chateau real cigars bears more than a passing resemblance to artist julian schnabel or actor joaquin phoenix .
i love this place ! i was in town on a fluke . i ' ve visited this cigar shop for a sale . sam and roger knew exactly what i needed . i will definitely be back . excellent service plus you can get some really cool cigar - box ' s . if you decide to visit and don ' t know exactly what you want these guys can get you into primo cigars . just stop by and tell them the bus driver sent you . they will be more than happy to hook you up .
as these pieces fell into place , stewart turned her attention to her legal conundrum .
there wasn ' t one lawyer who worked on my case who advised me to go to prison ,
she says .
they said it would look bad . it would harm my case . it would tell people that i was guilty .
but stewart insists she knew all along what she had to do : serve the time , get it over with , so she and her company could move on .
my life is my business . my business is my life . i ' ve said that a thousand times . i had to do it because i knew it would change things - - jigger a change - - in the company .
in the company’s first year , booth says that he was producing around 200 , 000 cigars . by 2012 he hit the million mark and now , he consistently produces more than 1 million cigars annually . it should be noted that although davidoff manufactures room101 cigars in its camacho facility—and distributes them out of its florida warehouse—the brand is owned by booth , which gives him creative freedom .
and throughout george ' s career , there were always cigars . according to gershwin ' s first biographer , isaac goldberg , he would ask the composer a question ,
to which george , always through the fragrance of the omnipresent cigar , made a ready reply .
the company was able to make the move because the bar , which primanti bought in december 2006 but is still known to many as the blue note , is in a completely separate space with its own hvac system . the bar , which fronts on carson street , complements the long - time primanti brothers restaurant that operates in the same building in a space that faces 18th street .
it was just what stewart needed to hear . the previous june , after being indicted , she had stepped aside as chairman and ceo of mslo . her no . 2 , sharon patrick , took over as chief , and the company took steps to distance itself from its founder - -
de - martha - ize
it , as some insiders said . stewart ' s name was downsized on the cover of martha stewart living and her presence diminished inside its pages . ( disclosure : time inc . , fortune ' s publisher , owned martha stewart living until 1997 , when it sold the magazine to stewart , citing the risks inherent in a single - personality publication . ) some of mslo ' s outside directors even considered changing the name of the company .
“i wanted to import the japanese flavor so prevalent in my jewelry to my cigars , ” booth explains . “and i wanted to use words with a strong meaning . ” one of those words was namakubi , which , according to the lore of japan’s isolationist history , was a severed head presented after battle as a trophy to the leader of a winning group of warriors . it’s also the name of a five - size line booth introduced in 2011 that has been well received by cigar smokers . it’s his third official cigar brand and emblematic of his passion for japanese imagery .
tom’s dating goes to the origin of the brand rather than the maker under which he listed them . lorillard made few cigars prior to the break - up of the tobacco trust in 1911 . nearly all brands associated with lorillard during the post war cigar boom of the 1940s and 50s were obtained when they and american tobacco split the cigar assets of the trust , each acquiring 500 or so previously active brands and 20 or so successful ones . between the break - up and wwi , both american and lorillard tested brands , blends and marketing , gradually winnowing down their holdings .
you can collect a lifetime and not see an nw 50 / 50 , but if you do , it may be a splits because when i paid $ 5 for this in 1974 the seller had a half dozen of them . this 14” x 16” nwcc with its cigar smoking red raven was not standard packing for the brand made by east prospect cigar co . in factory 3 , 1st pa in the 1930’s . the powdery fluorescent blue is impractical as it shows fingerprints so must be handled carefully . the cigars pictured are from a less attractive 50 / 50 . [ 3476 ]
now two dreamers , bill rudman and ken bloom , are bringing back the walden library on compact discs . though recorded decades ago , the re - recording is remarkable . this cd features such lesser - known gershwin gems as
where ' s the boy ? here ' s the girl !
from the 1928 musical treasure girl and the posthumously released
aren ' t you kind of glad we did ?
from the 1947 film the shocking miss pilgrim . listening to this labor of love 45 years later , i can honestly say i am proud of what we did . - - ej
the smallest legal cigar box holding 3 cigars was first permitted in 1918 or 1926 ( unclear ) . the nation’s largest user of nw 3 boxes was r . g . sullivan who gave them to visitors and sold them with custom labels for banquets , events and tobacconists . cigars were made in
if you truly don ' t have a cigar that is your go to in either circumstances , you would be the first i have ever met or heard of . however , if you don ' t want to say to keep your reviews as unbiased as possible i can understand that better .
but primanti brothers restaurant owner jim patrinos has found a way to feature smoking alongside his south side location and its fries - and - slaw stuffed sandwiches . patrinos converted the eatery ' s neighboring bar into a cigar bar , inaugurated with the new smoking ban about a week and a half ago .
formerly made in a section of the original tabacalera perdomo , drew estate later took over the entire factory when perdomo moved to larger quarters . in july 2007 , drew estate consolidated , moving production from some nine smaller facilities into the impressive la gran fabrica drew estate . steve saka , the president of the company and the main businessman in the group , calls the factory
an extension of jon ' s personality .
i ' ve never seen him in a suit ,
says padrón .
but what i have seen is a tireless fighter . there are some in the cigar industry who dedicate themselves to copying somebody else ' s work . i admire jonathan because he dedicates himself to developing original ideas .
boxes holding a single cigar are almost always oversize novelties of one sort or another and rarely nw boxes . nor are they legal , as no tax stamp has ever been issued in that denomination . that means boxes holding single cigars must be packed in larger boxes on which a tax stamp can be applied .
drew moved to nicaragua in late 1998 with the borrowed money to start production while samel stayed in new york to run the u . s . side of the business . that move laid the foundation for the respect he now gets from the nicaraguan cigar cognoscenti .
at first , the tobacco growers didn ' t trust me because the boom had just ended and they saw me as just another gringo out to make a quick buck ,
drew told cigar aficionado in 2005 .
when they saw that i was living inside the factory and i was relentlessly working hard every day , i began to earn their respect .
companies & their brands : notable cigar companies inspiration and significant information by tom somerville © tony hyman , all rights reserved begun december 1 , 2011 latest addition april 9 , 2015 rudimentary list just begun currently 74 of 250 , 000 companies are listed . histories of individual companies and brands are in the works . . .
the innovative avo cigar lounge is intended to be a haven for pleasure and relaxation . the stylish interior was tailored to suit avo uvezian ' s philosophy of
cigars and music .
seated in one of the 25 lounge chairs , aficionados can enjoy the jazz musician ' s fine cigars against a backdrop of attentive service that also offers culinary specialities . the walk - in humidor is integrated within the shop front , and offers the entire range of avo cigars . in addition , a special line of cigars , the avo lounge cigar series featuring a pale blue band , is being developed and will only be available in the avo lounge .
so glad that you ' re doing this ama . quick question for you - when you traveled to dortmund , germany in 2015 , i ' m sure it was a great learning experience for you . what did you learn about the european cigar market and the slowly growing desire for non - cuban cigars over there ?