The share of counterfeit cigarettes in Russia doesn`t fall, despite all the measures taken by the government, admitted Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. The law on the turnover of tobacco products should radically change the situation, which can start working as early as next year.
According to the results of a large-scale research by the National Scientific Competence Center (NCCR) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 12% of tobacco products are sold illegally in Russia. The regions where the share of counterfeit is the highest are Novgorod (43.6%), Rostov (40%) regions, Kabardino-Balkaria (34.1%), Yaroslavl Region (34.1%). Below 1%, the share of counterfeit goods was recorded in Yakutia, Komi and Udmurtia, as well as on Sakhalin and in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The share of counterfeit goods increases with distance from major cities. This year, the turnover of counterfeit products in million-plus cities has also increased by a third.
The share of imports of illegal cigarettes from the EAEU countries has increased - from 6.6% last year to 7.5% in 2022. And 92% of them are of Belarusian origin.
According to the results of the first nine months of last year, the share of counterfeit products in the cigarette market was 11.5%. Experts predicted its sharp growth. But 12% is still a lot, Manturov believes. According to him, annual budget losses can reach more than 70 billion rubles. This amount is comparable to the annual tax revenues of a small region, compared the director of the NCCR Irina Bushina.
And the share of illegal electronic cigarettes reaches 93%, and budget losses are about 30 billion rubles a year.
Last year, the Ministry of Finance submitted to the government a law providing for separate regulation of the tobacco and nicotine-containing industry. The Ministry of Industry and Trade expects that it can be adopted already in the autumn session of the State Duma and will work from 2023. According to Manturov, together with the use of a digital marking system, this will radically change the situation on the market.
Source:
rg.ru