Tabacalera Placed Under Spanish Treasury Oversight Following EU Sanctions Against Chen Zhi

The importer continues to supply cigar shops. But every one of its financial transactions must now be cleared by Spanish authorities.

Because of the European sanctions against Chen Zhi, Tabacalera SLU’s bank accounts are frozen and the company is now operating under close supervision from the Spanish state, L’Amateur de Cigare has learned.

Unlike German importer Fifth Avenue, Tabacalera still appears able to keep up deliveries to tobacconists. Several retailers we contacted confirmed they had received Habanos shipments as recently as earlier this week.

According to our information, every payment made by Tabacalera SLU — to suppliers, service providers, or for routine expenses — must now receive prior clearance from the Dirección General del Tesoro, the Treasury directorate under Spain’s Ministry of Economy, the authority responsible in Spain for enforcing international financial sanctions.

Management communicated with staff in early August: the freezing of the company’s bank accounts was presented internally as the most serious consequence of the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Chen Zhi on July 30.

Tabacalera acknowledged outright that this oversight regime would cause delays to certain procedures and payments, payroll in particular. A subsequent communication, this time from the Human Resources department, confirmed that a payroll delay had indeed occurred: the company announced it had obtained the necessary Treasury authorizations to release the payments, and apologized to staff for the inconvenience caused.

Microsoft inaccessible, break with ING

More broadly, internal sources describe a company whose everyday working tools have also come under strain. The Microsoft 365 suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.) became inaccessible to some or all staff in early September. The exact cause could not be identified; a compliance measure taken directly by the American software maker, its Spanish subsidiary, or a local IT provider is considered the most likely explanation by staff interviewed.

Other internal sources say the bank ING España ended its business relationship with Tabacalera in late 2025, in the wake of the US and UK sanctions, forcing some employees paid through that bank to switch accounts in order to keep receiving their salary. ING was asked for comment but had not responded by the time this article was published.

Contacted repeatedly since early August about the consequences of the European sanctions, Tabacalera’s communications department first acknowledged receipt of our email, then stopped responding to follow-ups. Interpath, appointed as the company’s provisional judicial liquidator, declined to comment on the matter.

In its internal communication, Tabacalera says it is working with the provisional liquidators and their legal counsel to obtain, as soon as possible, an exemption license comparable to those already secured in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Tabacalera S.L.U. has been the Cuban state’s 50/50 partner in Habanos S.A. since the 2020 purchase of Imperial Brands’ premium cigar business. It is itself wholly owned through a chain of Asian shell companies, of which Chen Zhi, via Simply Advanced Limited, indirectly controls 57.1 percent.

Laurent Mimouni