From: Russia Beyond the Headlines
In the last year there has been a sharp increase in the volume of counterfeit tobacco in Russia, including incidents of illegal supplies of cigarettes from China. Experts believe that this unexpected phenomenon is due to restrictions on tobacco sales. However, despite this initiative, the total number of smokers in the country remains practically unchanged.
Russia is facing a growing problem preventing pirated tobacco from reaching its domestic market, with the volume of counterfeit cigarettes rising sharply in the last year, including several incidents in which illegal supplies of cigarettes were found to have originated in China.
Sergei Kiselyov, Vice President of Corporate Issues and Relations at Japan Tobacco International (JTI), told RBTH that one of the reasons for the growth of counterfeit tobacco is the ban on the open display of cigarettes in stores. Moreover, according to JTI, the substantial growth of counterfeit tobacco is also conditioned by the growth of excise rates, a special tax that in Russia ranges from 14 to 43 percent per cigarette pack.
According to Kiselyov, Chinese production constitutes just 1 percent of counterfeit tobacco in Russia, since until recently Chinese tobacco was shipped to Western Europe, where prices are significantly higher than in Russia. However the growth in excise duty means that Russia has also become an interesting market for illegal producers. The remaining 99 percent of counterfeit tobacco in Russia is produced internally.
