In Russia, according to research by the National Research University of Higher School of Economics, there is a record decrease in illegal trafficking in all product groups: its share has almost tripled in five years (from 2018 to 2023) - from 25.9% to 8.9%. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artem Kiryanov at the Interregional online conference "The potential of regions in the fight against illegal excisable products", which was held by Kommersant-Rostov. The head of the committee clarified that, first of all, the reduction was possible due to the operation of the product labeling system.
Thus, according to Mr. Kiryanov, the share of illegal tobacco products decreased by 56%. "After the labeling was introduced (in 2019), 65 illegal tobacco factories were closed throughout Russia, 18 were legalized. On December 1, 2023, the introduction of labeling for the last group of tobacco products, nicotine–containing liquids, was completed. In the period from 2024 to 2025, law enforcement officers identified 6 illegal nicotine-containing products. Over 670 thousand were seized. units of finished products worth more than 500 million rubles, as well as additional excise duties of several billion rubles," the speaker said.
He stressed that the result of the introduction of the labeling system is also observed in the "fiscal effects." Calculations carried out in accordance with the methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of federal authorities based on the labeling system (agreed with Rosstat) show that additional revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation for labeled product groups amounted to 1.2 trillion rubles. At the same time, the key fiscal effect is achieved through labeling tobacco products. This is more than 601.5 billion rubles, said Artyom Kiryanov.
He cited data from the Higher School of Economics, according to which excise tax receipts for liquids for electronic nicotine delivery systems (EDS) to the Russian budget have increased almost 10 times in three years: from 45.1 million rubles (in 2021) to 421.6 million rubles. (for three quarters of 2024). "I would also like to mention such a control tool as the permissive regime (when cash registers automatically block illegal products). With regard to tobacco and beer in kegs, such a mechanism has been in operation since April 1, 2024," the head of the State Duma Committee recalled. He cited the example of the Central Federal District, where 48.5 million units of tobacco products were blocked from July 2024 to August 25, 2025, of which 43.7 million were cigarettes, 3.6 million were nicotine-containing products and 1.3 million were alternative tobacco products.
According to Maxim Kurgansky, Director of Legal Product Protection at the CRPT, data analysis for the first seven months of 2025 shows a generally positive trend in the nicotine-containing products market in most regions of the Black Earth region. "So, in the Lipetsk region, legal sales (in kind) increased by 15%, in the Voronezh region – by 12%, in the Tambov Region – by 6%,– said Mr. Kurgansky. – We see a slight drop (by 3%) in the Orel region. The market is gradually being whitewashed."
Maxim Kurgansky agreed that the permissive regime contributes to the whitewashing of the market in the regions of the Black Earth region. So, for 12 months (from July 2024 to July 2025), sales of illegal products (tobacco products, EDS, etc.) were blocked in four of these regions. "For example, in the Voronezh region, 123.6 thousand units of nicotine-containing products were blocked, in the Tambov Region – 33 thousand, in the Lipetsk Region – 24.2 thousand., in Oryol region – 10.4 thousand . The fight against illegal trade in excisable products in these regions is underway at all levels. Law enforcement officers, together with representatives of regulatory agencies and the public, are doing everything to whitewash the market. The process is underway. The figures prove it," Mr. Kurgansky summed up.
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