The First Deputy Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, Alexei Sinitsyn. Photo source: ВМЕСТЕ РФ.
In a news report from Federal Information Channel, Alexei Sinitsyn, the first deputy chairman of the Federal Committee's Economic Policy Committee, pointed out at a roundtable discussion specifically focused on the tobacco industry that counterfeit products must be eliminated from the domestic tobacco market.
According to him, despite various efforts made by the nation, the pace at which Russians quit smoking remains slow. Data from Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service) shows that over 20% of Russian adults smoke, a figure which has remained unchanged for several years. Increasing prices will only make cigarettes more affordable.
The government's role is to establish regulations that will help to standardize the industry, or at least prevent it from entering a massive grey area. The industry's general issues have been repeatedly discussed in various locations, with the main problem being a significant difference in consumption tax rates between Russia and neighboring EAEU countries. SenatInformSinitsyn stated that the government has taken measures to address this issue, but many sectors of the Russian economy, including tobacco, are experiencing significant changes related to unfriendly countries' sanction policies this year.
According to data from Rosstat, the production of legal cigarettes decreased by over 17% in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, the percentage of counterfeit cigarettes is on the rise. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, over 12% of cigarettes in the country are now counterfeit, up from 11.5% a year ago. The resulting budget loss is estimated at 70 billion rubles, or roughly 8.2 billion yuan.
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