Tobacco.org

Belarus increases cigarette quotas by 0.55% to 29.39bn in 2011 

The Government of Belarus has increased quotas for the production of tobacco products in 2011 by 0.55% to 29.39 billion. Such a decision is contained in Resolution No. 1692 of the Council of Ministers as of 15 December. The document came into force on the day of issuing.

This document introduces changes into Resolution No. 1863 of the Council of Ministers of 21 December 2010, which provided for the quotas in the amount of 27.6 billion in 2011 (up 10% from 2010). Later the Council of Ministers issued resolution No. 1197 on 7 September this year to increase the quotas by another 6% to 29.23 billion.

Grodno Tobacco Factory Neman can produce 23.16 billion cigarettes this year against the annual forecast of 23 billion cigarettes (up 0.69%).

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Beaver patrol foils cigarette smugglers  

Belorussian beavers became accidental vigilantes when a haul of smuggled cigarettes became stuck in their dam.

The rodents felled a tree to form the foundations for their new home. By chance it also served as a barrier to a consignment of GPS-tracked cigarettes, whose progress was halted just 15 meters from the Lithuanian border.

The small raft was visible to border guards, who are currently investigating the origin of the contraband.

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Belarus has highest inflation in Europe: report  

Belarus was leading European countries in the growth of consumer prices, the Belarusian National Statistical Committee said in a report Tuesday. . . .

Over the past year, the price of cigarettes and tobacco products shot up by 91.9 percent in Belarus, while in Bulgaria the price rose 0.2 percent, Russia 9.4 percent and Ukraine 10 percent.

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Two Polish diplomats fired over attempted cigarette smuggling  

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has fired two employees of the Polish embassy in Moscow after they tried to smuggle cigarettes worth $16,000 to Poland, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The diplomats were detained in Terespol at the border with Belarus, Marcin Bosacki said, adding that some 100,000 cigarettes were seized from the detainees. He did not elaborate on the date of the detention.

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In Belarus, rising prices for alcohol and cigarettes 

In Belarus, November 1, increased excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products. It is reported by the agency learned with reference to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic.As noted by the Finance Ministry decree № 489 would increase the excise on vodka . . .

With regard to tobacco, the November 1, provides for an increase excise rates on tobacco products of lower price range from 15 310 to 17 thousand rubles, or 11.1%, average - from 40 thousand to 45 thousand rubles, or 12.5%, and higher - from 60 thousand to 65 thousand rubles, or 8.3%.

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Meat, bread prices soar in crisis-hit Belarus 

Belarus announced at the start of the week it was raising prices for bread and dairy by 10 percent and meat products by a fifth.

A separate decision saw cigarettes become 50-percent more expensive overnight - a move especially painful and unpopular in a part of Eastern Europe with many smokers.

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Belarus Limits Cross-Border Car Travel and Individual Exports  

No more than two packs of Belarus-produced cigarettes per person will be allowed out of the country.

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Duties on socially important exports from Belarus imposed today. 

From today export of Belarusian refrigerators and freezers, gas cookers, cement, and detergents from the country outside the Customs Union is banned. The same list includes all kinds of cereals and pasta, regardless of their manufacturer. At the same time export of some other domestic products is being restricted by weight. The rate for pork and poultry, as well as sugar, flour and cheese from now on amounts to only 2 kg, butter to a kilogram. In addition, it will be possible to take only 2 packs of Belarusian cigarettes and 5 meat cans and condensed milk abroad.

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Belarusians live worse, but there will not be a social explosion this summer 

Belarus owes Russia two months' worth of payments for electricity. The company Inter RAO, the Russian exporter of electricity, has imposed restrictions on deliveries. And this is not the only trouble Minsk faces in its current economic crisis. Belarus is experiencing renewed expressions of popular discontent, and this time they are not devised by the opposition. Drivers are seen protesting. As increases in oil prices persist (fourth time this year) so do queues in gas stations. Prices for cigarettes have risen by 30-60% since June 8, but, in reality, they have entirely disappeared from the market. It is still impossible to purchase foreign currency in exchange offices.

Will these economic hardships trigger serious civil actions? Experts believe the government will succeed in maintaining control of situation, at least until fall. As if in support of this claim, President Alexander Lukashenko reversed fuel rises merely a day after public protests.

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VIDEO: Cigarette prices to go up in Belarus tomorrow 

The decision was approved by the Resolution of the Economy Ministry. Retail prices for imported and domestic products will increase by 50 percent on average. Meanwhile, experts don't rule out multiplying of the rates of excise duties for cigarettes. The Government plans to overcome the financial crisis by approximating them to the level of interest rates in Russia.

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Bosnian detained for contraband of cigarettes in Belarus  

Minsk. A Bosnian has been detained for contraband of cigarettes in Belarus, Belta news agency reported.

A large amount of contraband cigarettes was found during a check of a truck driven by the Bosnian at Benyakoni customs checkpoint on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border.

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• Smuggled goods from Russia and Belarus enter Lithuanian via Latvia 

Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius admitted that a lot of illegal goods come to Lithuania from Russia and Belarus via Latvia, The Lithuanian Tribune reports.

"Large quantity of smuggled cigarettes are shipped into Lithuania not through Belarus-Lithuania or Kaliningrad-Lithuania border but rather via Latvian borders where the goods are illegally shipped from Belarus and Russia," Andrius Kubilius emphasized.

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ГТК Беларуси и компания Imperial Tobacco Ltd подписали в Минске меморандум о взаимопонимании  

State Customs Committee of Belarus and the company Imperial Tobacco Ltd was signed in Minsk on a Memorandum of Understanding

State Customs Committee (SCC) of Belarus and the leadership of an international company Imperial Tobacco Ltd in Minsk on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding, told Interfax-West "in the press service of SCC of the Republic.

Representatives of the SCC noted that this document defines the general terms of cooperation between the SCC and the tobacco company, which will be aimed at combating the illegal flow of tobacco products in Belarus, as well as cross-border trafficking in these goods, as well as trafficking in counterfeit goods.

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Belarus’ SSC, Imperial Tobacco Ltd to sign memorandum of understanding 

The State Customs Committee (SCC) of Belarus and the Imperial Tobacco Ltd company are set to sign a memorandum of understanding in Minsk on 17 March, BelTA learnt from the SCC press service.

The document creates framework for cooperation between the SCC and the Imperial Tobacco Ltd in order to strengthen the control over smuggling and illegal trade in tobacco products, including the prevention of trans-border trade in counterfeit tobacco products in Belarus.

The SCC keeps signing memorandums of understanding with major producers. A reminder, the SCC signed the similar memorandum with the JT International S.A. company on 18 December 2008.

The intensification of smuggling and bootlegging is a matter of serious concern both for the customs agencies and tobacco producers. . . .

The illegal transit of tobacco products from Russia and Ukraine to the EU via Belarus has increased in recent years.

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• Belarus bets that smoking will improve athletes’ performance 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the importers of tobacco to give five per cent of their revenues to sports organizations in the republic in an effort to improve athletic excellence. "The document was adopted in order to create the necessary conditions for the further development of individual sports, preparing high-class athletes and sports institutions, as well as improving the results of Belarusian clubs in all sports of the international arena," the text of the decree says.

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