Russia has lost more than a hundred billion due to the sale of counterfeit tobacco

Excise duties rank second in terms of profitability

Almost 12 times (from 1.1% to 12.9%) the volume of illicit cigarette trafficking in Russia has increased over the past seven years. Analysts of the National Scientific Competence Center in the field of combating illegal trafficking in industrial products came to this conclusion.

According to researchers, 1.4 billion packs of cigarettes were sold illegally in Russia last year alone. The damage from lost excise duties and VAT amounted to 115 billion rubles. Experts note that tobacco excises are second in terms of revenues to the federal budget, and the first is the oil and gas industry. Last year, income from the sale of tobacco amounted to 660 billion rubles.

That is why on Tuesday, June 13, the president signed a law on the introduction of state regulation of the production and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Recall that according to it, manufacturers and importers of all products containing nicotine and raw materials for its production will be required not only to license their activities, but also to register production equipment. In addition, the law provides for the mandatory seizure and destruction of illegal tobacco products and equipment. Since the law is similar to the one that regulates the circulation of alcoholic products, the Rosalkogolregulirovanie will monitor its implementation, and its name will change to Rosalkogoltabakkontrol.