"Maikapar" tobacco company was established in Riga

"Maikapar" tobacco company was established in Riga by two Crimean entrepreneurs - Abraham Maikapar and Yefim Saitan - representatives of Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar.

Before the WWI "Maikapar" company was one of the largest manufacturers of tobacco products in the Russian Empire. Company's branwes were in Moscow and even in Berlin.

***

During the First Republic "Maikapar" company was led by Theodor and Samuil Maikapar. As a Joint-Stock company the "Maikapar" existed till the Soviet times, when it was nationalized and renamed into "Riga tabacco factory".

In the 90th it ewas sold to House of Prince, then - to Scandinavian Tobacco

***

The Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar (Crimean Karaim: Кърымкъарайлар sg. къарай – qaray; Trakai Karaim: sg. karaj, pl. karajlar, Hebrew: קראי מזרח אירופה, Turkish: Karaylar), also known as Karaim and Qarays, are an ethnic group derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Karaism, historically residing in the Crimea peninsula. Some Krymkaraylar moved to Eastern Europe on the course of the 13th century, and later spread across the territory of the former Russian Empire, notably to territories of modern Lithuania and Poland. "Karaim" is a Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Polish name for the community.