Since 2022, law enforcement officials in the city of Rostov-on-Don in Russia have confiscated 1,983 packets of counterfeit tobacco products. Additionally, during the same period, they have also dismantled 34 illegal tobacco stalls (including cigarettes and e-cigarettes), which were the main source of distribution for these fake products.
The cigarette and tobacco products vendor's location was obtained from Yandex.Maps.
At a meeting of the Economic Development Committee of the Rostov City Council, Acting Director of the City Trade Bureau Oleg Rudenko announced that it has been determined that the majority of counterfeit tobacco products sold in Rostov come from five countries: Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, and the neighboring "Republics" - either officially or implied to be the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).
According to Ludenko from Rostov city, these data are not entirely official. Officials who seized the counterfeit goods only have a rough idea of their origin.
We are actively fighting against illegal sales points and want to dismantle them, but we don't always come out on top. This is because the number of these illegal sales points continues to increase significantly every year," said Sergei Sherepetyev, Deputy Chairman of the Duma, in his report. "If you walk down any street in Rostov, you can see 'tobacco' and 'tobacco products' being sold at every bus stop. I don't believe they are all legal.
The source of the counterfeit goods seized by Russian authorities is Evgeny Vdovinj.
Ludenko added that despite more frequent surprise inspections, the amount of seized fake cigarettes is actually lower. There are two reasons for this.
The first reason is that the number of surprise inspections has increased, and law enforcement agencies have recently seized a large number of counterfeit tobacco products.
The second reason is that there has been an increase in surprise inspections, causing illegal vendors to quickly adapt to the sudden rhythm and become more proficient at hiding their illicit tobacco. They have realized that stockpiling large quantities of goods invites theft and makes them more susceptible to being searched by enforcement authorities, so they only keep a small amount of counterfeit goods at their stalls.
According to Lutengko, "We often find that the stock on the stalls does not exceed 20 packets. That's why the reported numbers seem so insignificant.
Furthermore, some prosperous Rostov vendors have started to engage in internal competition and have learned to use complaints submitted to the regional FAS department (Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation) as a means to eliminate rival vendors.
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