Matador, a.s. (a joint-stock company) is a multinational car tire producer based in Púchov, Slovakia, as well as the corresponding group of companies. It exports above 87% of its production into 80 countries worldwide. It does not produce only tires, but also associated and similar products and services. It has several trading companies and a network of shops. The largest export customers are the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and the CIS states. Matador now also produces conveyor belts, automotive parts and machinery. History The company arose in the town of Púchov in 1947 as a "national enterprise" that was split off from the old firm Matador Bratislava. Matador Bratislava was founded in 1905 (till 1911 known as the "Matador - Gummi und Balata Werke") involved mainly in the production of rubber hoses and belts in its new facilities in Petržalka, a district of Bratislava. Since 1925, it has produced tires (the first tires producer in former Czechoslovakia). Its tires were fitted to many Czechoslovak automobiles of the 1930s, thus contributing in co-operation with the brands Škoda, Tatra, Aero and others to the development of automotive industry in Central Europe. The firm was nationalized in 1946 and privatized in 1995. Its trade name has been Matadorex, a.s. since the privatization. The key role in privatization and transformation of the company was played by Štefan Rosina, who initially joined the firm in 1950 as a regular worker and eventually became the leader of the management team. Matador in Púchov itself was established as a "national enterprise" (since 1988 "state-owned enterprise") for tire production in 1947. Production started in 1950. It was called "Gumárne 1. mája" (which translates to "rubber works of 1st of May"), at that time and sold its products under the trademark Barum. Gradually it expanded its production and became the monopoly producer of air tubes (since 1962) and the main producer of rubber conveyor belts (since 1955) in Czechoslovakia. It also started to produce truck radial tires in the 1970s. The company founded its own R&D center in 1987 (now "Vipo") and provided technical assistance for the construction of rubber works in India, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Burma, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Yugoslavia. In 1991 it was turned into a joint-stock company and privatization took place 1992-1994. The trademark of the products of the company was changed to Matador and the firm's name was changed to Gumárne Barum in