Altria did not provide any information regarding its Czech subsidiary, only mentioning that PMI’s volume in Central Europe rose by 5.2% y/y due to increases in Greece, Poland and Romania, which were partially offset by declines in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and inventory adjustments. The drop in 1Q05 was expected due to higher consumption of cheaper brands, illegal smuggling and domestic production following the cigarette excise tax increases in 2004. In addition, 1Q04 sales were positively impacted by pre-stocking of cigarettes with the lower excise tax.