The Russians decided to get addicted to expensive, but the right cigarettes

The upcoming September 1 can rightfully be considered a black day for the Russian smoker. From this day on, the Law “On State Regulation of Production and Turnover of Tobacco Products…” comes into force. Now control on this market will be tough – in the image and likeness of alcohol. Or maybe even stricter. The authorities are seriously concerned about the fact that the country is being overwhelmed by a wave of counterfeit tobacco. Yes, such cigarettes are much cheaper than legal products, but they do not meet the harsh but fair state standards. Which is fraught with loss of health for citizens and money for the treasury.

The share of illegal tobacco in Russia, according to official government data, is now 13.9%, while in the second half of 2022 this figure was 12.1%. It turns out that somewhere our controllers and regulators are not being finalized, the volumes of counterfeit products are growing. Which, in fact, is not surprising. The current prices for tobacco have long become unbearable for poor Russians, many, as in the distant Soviet times, are switching to home gardening and self-rolling.

However, tobacco market experts are concerned mainly about budget losses. If measures are not taken in time, then about 130 billion rubles will pass by the cash register this year.

However, do not worry, measures to combat illegality have already been developed. In particular, it was decided to transfer a certain percentage of excise payments to the regional budgets, this will be an incentive for local authorities to actively fight the shadow tobacco market. The law introduces licensing in the production and import of tobacco products

It also provides for the obligation of the manufacturer to register equipment for the production of products. If for some reason it is not used, it must be conserved and presented in this form to the inspectors from Rosalkogolregurivaniya. Control powers are transferred to this department and it will now be called Rosalkogoltabakkontrol.

In general, Russia may soon become the only country in the world that wins counterfeit tobacco.

But this success also has a downside. According to a VTsIOM survey conducted last year, there are quite a few heavy smokers left in Russia – exactly 33%. True, their army, compared to 2013, decreased by 8%. Recall that it was in that year that a merciless fight against tobacco smoking was launched in our country. And some brands of cigarettes have increased in price by 3-4 times over this decade.

It turns out that the fewer smokers remain, the less income from them goes to the treasury. So that these cash flows do not dry up, the government raises prices – sort of like “fighting” against this evil. After all, both tobacco and alcohol are the very bad habits that people give up last.

Losses in the family budget of smokers, in contrast to the losses in the federal budget, no one counts. The question is posed point-blank: smoking is harmful, if you don’t want to spend money, don’t smoke.

On the one hand, the authorities care about the health of the nation. But on the other hand, he also does not forget about replenishing the federal budget, tirelessly fighting the shadow tobacco market and “regulating” (in fact, raising) prices. This year alone, the minimum price for a pack of cigarettes was raised twice: from January 1 (117 rubles) and from March 1 -119.

As smokers say, they have never seen such cigarettes on sale, there are quite strong ones for 150 rubles, and the most popular ones are 200-220 per pack. And no one knows what the average real cost of a pack of cigarettes will be from next year (taking into account the law on state regulation that comes into force) and the tightening of control over counterfeit goods. As previously announced by the Ministry of Finance, from January 2024, the next indexation of tariffs for cigarettes will take place – by 5%.

– The coming into force law on state regulation has nothing to do with the prices of tobacco products, – explains the executive director of the All-Russian public movement “For the rights of smokers” Andrey Loskutov. – They are determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and, on average, increase by 4-5% per year. And the law will streamline the tobacco market in terms of illegal trade, as a result of which the state annually loses more than 100 billion rubles. The document introduces a new procedure for licensing and accounting in the production and circulation of tobacco and nicotine-containing products and is directed against shadow trade.

Hoping that tobacco prices, like seasonal potatoes, will one day creep down, smokers do not have to. Even the chairman of the Union of Consumers of Russia, Petr Shelishch, “understanding and sympathizing with smokers,” urges them to get rid of this addiction as soon as possible.