Jan. 24 - Producers of the Agricultural Cooperative of Italian Tobacco Transformers and the Japan Tobacco International Company, based in Geneva, have renewed the agreement for the supply to the latter of Italian Virginia Bright, a quality of tobacco produced mainly in Umbria. This is great news for the whole region "because it offers the Umbria tobacco companies stability and security. It is also an authoritative recognition of their ability to renew and improve the quality of their tobacco product," commented president Catiuscia Marini, who thanked the Japanese multinational "for wanting to confirm confidence in Umbrian producers," who in recent years have made significant investments to upgrade and modernize the processing plants. These are essential to provide the market with "a quality product." The president also claimed that the agreement "contributes positively to the development of the regional economy and not just of the Upper Tiber Valley, and fights the current stagnation of the national economy."

€876 MILLION IN EU FUNDS

President Marini took the opportunity to give credit to the Councilor for Regional Agriculture, Fernanda Cecchini – who was also present, along with the mayor of Città di Castello, Luciano Bacchetta – for her "strong commitment to supporting the tobacco sector, and the positive results obtained with the recent allocation of European funds. The funds allocated to Umbria are reserved for regional agriculture resources and amount to a total of over € 876 million for the next seven years."