The Government Commission on Legislative Activity has commented on the initiative to ban the sale of tobacco products at public transport stops. This was reported to Vedomosti by two sources: one close to the commission, the other in the White House. The bill amends the law on the protection of citizens' health from exposure to tobacco smoke, the effects of tobacco consumption and nicotine-containing products.
The initiative of the Khabarovsk Territory Duma was submitted to the State Duma in May 2025. Currently, the law prohibits the retail sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products on all types of public transport, on the territories and premises of train stations, airports, seaports and river ports, the explanatory note says. It also says that the expansion of the retail ban on transport stops is a "logical continuation of a systematic approach" to reduce the negative impact and consumption of tobacco.
There is one comment to the bill in the official government response. The initiative does not provide for an exception for the only points of sale of tobacco and nicotine-containing products in populated areas, which are located at bus stops. The Government insisted on finalizing the draft law taking this comment into account. The changes, if adopted, will take effect on March 1, 2026.
The bill was supported by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and Rospotrebnadzor. Initially, he was not supported by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rosalokoltakcontrol, but the disagreements were settled by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, it follows from the document.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of June 2025, more than 7 million people die from tobacco use per year. These include 1.6 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke. There is no harmless level of its influence on others, just as there is no safe dose of tobacco, according to the WHO website.
The consumption of nicotine–containing products, including electronic cigarettes, is an extremely dangerous factor for public health, said Igor Alentov, a general practitioner at the Sberbank Health medical company. Among the serious consequences, the expert mentioned chronic diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, heart attacks and strokes. Men in the Russian Federation smoke much more often than women, it follows from the data of the "Selective monitoring of public Health" (conducted by Rosstat) for 2024. Only 43.5% of men have never tried smoking, while 86.3% of women have.
Restricting smoking areas reduces the risks of harm to the health of people who are near consumers of nicotine-containing products, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health told Vedomosti. He also recalled that a number of regions have already established bans on the consumption of tobacco, nicotine-containing products and the use of hookahs at public transport stops. For example, they operate in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Sakhalin Region.
The proportion of outlets subject to restrictions is small, says Elena Khromova, partner of the audit and consulting group Unicon, but she did not provide exact figures. According to her, this format of stores is widespread mainly in regions with a cold climate. Nevertheless, the ban will affect tobacco sales statistics and the main impact will be on small businesses, Khromova told Vedomosti. Direct losses of kiosks at bus stops can amount to 15-30% of their turnover, estimated Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department of the investment company Rikom-Trust. For many of them, tobacco is the product that brings the buyer, he explained.
In 2024, Russians spent 1.4 trillion rubles on cigarettes, which is 8.9% more than a year earlier, according to a press release from the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies, the operator of the Honest Sign labeling system. A serious reduction in the volume of the nicotine-containing products market due to the introduction of the proposed ban should not be expected, says Abelev.
In his opinion, if the initiative is adopted, tobacco consumption will decrease, but the effect will be moderate and will not manifest itself immediately. There will be fewer impulsive purchases of nicotine-containing products, but heavy smokers will continue to consume tobacco and simply make purchases elsewhere, Abelev believes. Thus, large networks will benefit from the ban, and small players will be closed, he concluded.
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