Cigarette smuggling constant at 13 pct this year says Novel

The Romanian black market for cigarettes decreased by 1.2 percent this November compared to the previous month, to a total of 13 percent, according to recent Novel Research market report. Throughout 2012 the level of cigarette smuggling has remained relatively stable at 13 percent, said Novel.

“Cigarette smuggling has had a constant evolution throughout this year – the 13 percent level reported in November is the same as in January 2012. Duty free trade remains in November the main source for cigarette smuggling with a total of 30.9 percent of all illegal trade,” said Marian Marcu, the general manager of Novel Research.

The share of cigarettes smuggled from Serbia has decreased to 12.9 percent while the share of those coming from Ukraine has gone up to 27.9 percent. Cigarettes smuggled from the Republic of Moldova have remained constant at 28.7 percent, according to the same source.

It is for the time since Romania has been dealing with cigarette smuggling that its level has remained constant throughout a year, said Adrian Popa, corporate & regulatory affairs director at BAT Romania. This shows that the authorities were efficient at fighting this phenomenon despite economic constraints and political instability said Gilda Lazar, corporate affairs & communications director at JTI Romania,Moldova and Bulgaria.

According to Sorana Mantho, corporate affairs director at Philip Morris Romania and Bulgaria, cigarette smuggling is down from nearly 28 percent in 2010 and 15 percent in 2011. Last  year the EU average (Romania included) for cigarette smuggling was 10.4 percent of the total market.

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In 2011 the three main cigarette manufacturers in Romania– JTI Romania, BAT Romania and Philip Morris Romania – have generated some EUR 2.75 million to the state budget in the form of excise duties and VAT.

Simona Bazavan