In November 2023, the share of tobacco products from Moldova on the “black” cigarette market of Romania increased by 11.8 percentage points compared to September - up to 19.4%, - Novel Research.
The most popular Moldovan cigarettes on the smuggling market are Kult, Ritm and Barbarossa. According to the research company, the overall “black” segment of the Romanian tobacco market accounted for 8.2% of total consumption in November last year. Compared to September 2023, this figure is almost unchanged (8.3%), but it is higher than the annual average in 2022 (7.1%). The region most affected by smuggling is the north-east of Romania, on the border with Moldova and Ukraine, where in 2023 the highest growth was registered compared to 2022 – by 3.6 percentage points – up to 24.5%. However, on average in 2023, the list of main sources of products for the “black” market with a share of 37.4% is occupied by the Duty Free segment (+4.5 p.p.) and 33% by the Cheap Whites segment (-13.4 p.p.). In third place in terms of the origin of smuggling is Bulgaria - 11.1% (+8.5 p.p.), followed by Moldova with a share of 10.8% (+1.1 p.p.) for 2023 and Serbia – 0.6% (+0.4 p.p.). The share of products of unknown origin is 1.9% (+0.4 p.p.), other sources – 5.3% (-0.6 p.p.). Representatives of tobacco companies present on the market believe that the increase in smuggling only confirms the pressure to which the legal tobacco market is exposed. Thus, Ileana Dumitru, BAT's director for legal affairs and external relations in South-Eastern Europe, said that efforts to combat smuggling must be supported by a balanced and predictable tax policy. “In Romania, excise taxes and cigarette prices are already the highest in the EU, and in neighboring countries tobacco products can be bought at half the price, so smuggling is a lucrative business for criminals,” she said. In turn, Gilda Lazar, Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications of JTI in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria, noted that the increase in smuggling occurs “against the backdrop of uncertainty, useless dialogue and lack of transparency,” and the issue of excise taxes is politicized against the backdrop of the upcoming elections in 2024 . “There are 12 legislative initiatives related to the tobacco sector at various stages of discussion in the Romanian Parliament. This instability could result in the destruction of the legal market and the growth of the “black” segment, which, even at the current level, causes damage to the budget of more than 300 million euros. If smuggling had not increased, revenues from excise taxes on tobacco products could have been higher,” the JTI representative emphasized. At the same time, Dragos Bucurenci, director of external relations at Philip Morris Romania, believes that a comprehensive national strategy is needed to combat illegal trade in goods, which will ensure the interaction of all government institutions to control this area. // 04.01.2024 — InfoMarket
