Tobacco.org

Japan Tobacco’s Winston Sales Increase in Russia (Update2)  

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, said Russian sales are rising as taxes force up the prices of budget competitors to its Winston and LD brands.

Cigarette volumes in Russia climbed 1.5 percent from January to March, Executive Vice President Masakazu Shimizu said at a press conference in London yesterday. “People are starting to trade up from the value segment” as prices rise, he said. “When people who used to belong to higher pricing products are trading down, we have the expansive presence in the mid-pricing zone to catch them.”

Taxes on tobacco are being increased incrementally until 2011 in Russia, where 42 percent of the population smokes, according to Japan Tobacco. Tax currently accounts for around one-third of the retail price on filtered cigarettes in the country. Japan Tobacco includes Russia in its Rest of the World unit, which accounted for 17 percent of sales last fiscal year.

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Japan Tobacco’s Winston Sales Increase in Russia (Update2)  

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world’s third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, said Russian sales are rising as taxes force up the prices of budget competitors to its Winston and LD brands.

Cigarette volumes in Russia climbed 1.5 percent from January to March, Executive Vice President Masakazu Shimizu said at a press conference in London yesterday. “People are starting to trade up from the value segment” as prices rise, he said. “When people who used to belong to higher pricing products are trading down, we have the expansive presence in the mid-pricing zone to catch them.”

Taxes on tobacco are being increased incrementally until 2011 in Russia, where 42 percent of the population smokes, according to Japan Tobacco. Tax currently accounts for around one-third of the retail price on filtered cigarettes in the country. Japan Tobacco includes Russia in its Rest of the World unit, which accounted for 17 percent of sales last fiscal year.

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The Art World's Shark Man, Still in the Swim 

Damien Hirst's exhibition in Kiev -- his first major retrospective -- includes the signature animal-based works of the artist, who is shown above, as well as recent efforts in a relatively mundane medium: painting. . . .

Hirst also brought a number of works built around cigarette butts, including a six-foot-wide ashtray piled with thousands of stubbed-out smokes. The distinctive stink of stale tobacco fills the space.

"He's saying that by the end of your life, your ashtray is full," suggests Invanka Yakovyne, a 17-year-old sporting lime green fingernails and red sneakers.

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Call for “Russia without tobacco” 

A flag bearing the inscription "Russia without tobacco" appeared on the North Pole. It was brought there by leaders of public organization League of the Nation's Health". The aim of the move is to get Russian society, and primarily, younger generations, involved into a drive against smoking.

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• Russia disputes ownership of Bulgarian tobacco company 

The Southeast European Times is reporting that Russia intends to take back a number of companies abroad that were once the property of the former Soviet Union, including Bulgarian cigarette maker Bulgartabac, Vladimir Kozhin, head of Russia's Presidential Property Management Department, said on Thursday April 9.

Bulgartabac is a Bulgarian tobacco holding company and one of the leading tobacco products producers in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as a major European cigarette producer. Established in 1947 and based in Sofia, it includes 22 joint-stock subsidiary companies in the tobacco-growing regions of the country. . . .

"We are investigating ... and if we find out that the company was once ours, but in a not very legal way has come into foreign hands, we will launch a procedure for its return," Kozhin said, quoted by the Southeast European Times.

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Russian Orthodox Church a growing political force 

To tens of millions of Russian believers, the Orthodox Church is first of all a sacred institution, a pillar of the country's 1,000-year-old identity and culture. . . .

According to Nikolai Mitrokhin, director of a research institute that studies religions in the former Soviet Union, the church built its fortune starting in the 1990s through trade in tobacco and alcohol, through exports of oil and sturgeon, by the construction of shopping malls and hotels and by operating jewelry stores - allegedly with counterfeit bling. The church also runs book publishing concerns and organic farms.

A church spokesman, Father Vsevolod Chaplin, confirmed that the Patriarchate controlled many businesses. But Chaplin said neither the tobacco nor the oil business proved profitable, and claimed the church is no longer involved in them. He also dismissed the notion that the church's commercial deals had undermined its spiritual mission.

"I don't see anything detrimental if the church can invest in this kind of work," he told AP.

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• Made to be smuggled: Russian contraband cigarettes 'flooding' European Union 

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Europe is being flooded by smuggled Russian-made cigarettes worth at least $1 billion a year, an international investigation has discovered.

A network of factories and routes has been put together across Europe since 2004, following large-scale smuggling routes previously supplied by major multinational tobacco companies. The new underground smoking trade involves only one brand, Jin Ling, which is turning up in more cities and countries across Europe every month.

Jin Ling, virtually unknown to the authorities three years ago, has grown so rapidly that law enforcement officials say it now rivals Marlboro as the top smuggled brand being seized in the European Union.

The organization behind this fast expanding black market, the Baltic Tobacco Factory (BTF) of Kaliningrad, Russia, has links to two of the world’s largest tobacco companies. Its factory network in Russia and Ukraine was previously owned and run by subsidiaries of Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Group, the world’s number three producer.

The investigation has identified a network of Russian and East European companies, including five factories believed to play roles in manufacturing the contraband cigarettes being smuggled to the West. . . .

Jin Ling cigarettes have no legal market in any European country, according to customs officials. The brand is never advertised and cannot be bought in shops. It is only sold illegally — smuggled by gangs who hope to pocket immense profits by selling unlicensed, untaxed cigarettes on black markets across Europe.

“Jin Ling is the most disturbing new development anywhere in the world in the illegal tobacco trade,” according to Luk Joossens, a World Health Organization expert in tobacco smuggling. “They are flooding into Europe.” . . .

ICIJ’s team has pieced together the unique story of the world’s first-ever cigarette brand designed and manufactured only for smuggling. . . .

Baltic Tobacco Factory’s headquarters is in Kaliningrad, a slice of Russian territory annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II and wedged between Poland and Lithuania. The freewheeling Russian exclave is known as a hotspot for smuggling and organized crime. . . .

Both RJR, Kazakov’s former supplier, and Gallaher, BTF’s former home, are now part of Japan Tobacco International (JTI). JTI acquired RJR’s non-U.S. tobacco operations in 1999 and bought Gallaher in 2007. In 2004, BTF joined JTI — as well as Philip Morris — in forming the Moscow-based Tobacco Industry Development Council. The industry group’s stated intent was to lobby for more favorable taxes on filtered cigarettes.

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Jin Ling
From the ICIJ story: "[T]the world’s first-ever cigarette brand designed and manufactured only for smuggling."

• Going undercover: Inside Baltic Tobacco’s smuggling empire 

ICIJ’s reporters went to Russia to uncover the truth about the billions of black market Jin Ling cigarettes turning up across Europe. They quickly learned that packets of Jin Ling could not be purchased even in the shops, markets, or street stalls of the Russian city where they are made, Kaliningrad. But Jin Ling was available to smugglers, in huge quantities, from its manufacturer, the Baltic Tobacco Factory.

Kaliningrad can be a dangerous place to ask questions about smuggling. The Russian territory, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, went into rapid and cataclysmic decline after the break up of the Soviet Union, but has since profited immensely from its close proximity and excellent transport to the European Union. It has also gained a reputation as a haven for smugglers and money launderers, and for a police force accommodating to smugglers’ interests. The city is home to a noisy night life and frontier atmosphere, with luxury limousines a frequent sight on the streets.

Russian journalists working in Kaliningrad know that to openly ask about the cigarette contraband trade is a risky business. In 2006, after criticizing the police — including the protection they give to smugglers — the local Novye Kolesa newspaper was raided and its newspapers confiscated. . . .

To investigate the Baltic Tobacco Factory company (BTF) in the high risk environment of Kaliningrad, ICIJ’s reporters went undercover in June 2008, with one posing as a Romanian smuggler setting up a new route to the EU. They carried concealed video and recording equipment to witness all that they saw and heard. (Their video report is available online.) . . .

From Kaliningrad, a team of ICIJ reporters followed the route of Jin Ling cigarettes and their containers on their journey to the west. Thirty kilometers south of Kaliningrad, at the Polish border crossing of Bagrationovsk, Jin Ling was widely available. Just outside the shabby town, parts of which have been left unrepaired since 1945, smuggling is big business. As at other border crossings between Russia and the EU nations of Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, cigarettes are not only smuggled through in full container loads; they are also broken down into small quantities by armies of personal smugglers and their managers.

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Americas Watchdog Warns The World About Chinese Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals & Cigarettes 

Americas Watchdogs' Global Piracy & Counterfeiting Consultants is the most quoted group in the world on product counterfeiting and piracy. The group is predicting that in 2009 global counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals will grow to $150 billion US dollars worldwide & China alone, will produce over 200,000,000,000 counterfeit cigarettes. Why the worry? Americas Watchdog is leading a national investigation into imported toxic Chinese drywall that could result in cancer, or other serious health issues, among homeowners in the 300,000+ US homes, that contain the imported Chinese gypsum board, built in the US, after the 2001. The group says, "Do you think for one second Chinese or Russian organized crime syndicates care about what they put in their counterfeit drugs, or cigarettes? We are begging legitimate Pharmaceutical & Cigarette maker CEO's to contact us immediately, so we can help them identify the bad guys & put them out of business. We also want to talk to the US & the global press about this dire emergency."

With the severe global economic downturn, we are expecting counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals & cigarettes to go through the roof in 2009. Do you really think the Chinese or Russian crime syndicates care if their products kill people?

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Russian lawmakers consider public smoking ban 

On the long-distance trains that criss-cross Russia, smokers lurk at the back of carriages; in airports they congregate in overcrowded smoking zones or male toilets to puff on cigarettes beside the urinals before boarding their flights.

Around 40 percent of all adults smoke, a parliamentary committee has estimated.

All that could change if Health Minister Tatyana Golikova has her way.

Parliament is considering her request to change the law and ban smoking in bars, nightclubs, restaurants and casinos with an area of under 50 sq metres (538 sq feet)

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• Russia fourth largest smoking nation -- UN  

Tobacco epidemic carried away 100 million human lives in the 20th century and today smoking causes the premature death of 5.4 million people.

Unless decisive measures are taken, the figure will go up to 8 million in 2030, says a report on the global tobacco epidemic that was published here Thursday.

Experts of the World Health Organization say more than two thirds of smokers live in ten countries – China, India, Indonesia, Russia, the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany, and Turkey.

Russia is ahead of the U.S. in what concerns the number of smokers although it has a much smaller population.

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• Russia To Debate Ban On Smoking In Restaurants, Bars 

(Dow Jones)- Russian lawmakers are this week debating a bill that mimics the tough, anti-tobacco legislation implemented across much of Europe in recent years, potentially eradicating smoking in many of the country's restaurants and bars.

The move - proposed by members of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's political party - would follow Russia's entry last spring into the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

That treaty requires a ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship within five years, bigger health warnings on cigarette boxes and the gradual prohibition of smoking in public places.

If passed, advocates say the new restrictions could help stem the decline in Russia's 140 . . .

The Duma is this week discussing the crucial second reading of amendments to the 2001 Federal Law on smoking, which at the time outlawed cigarettes in the workplace and on planes. The latest amendments - drawn up by nine deputies from Putin's United Russia party, which dominates the Duma - seek to extend the smoking ban to cafes, bars and nightclubs.

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"Есть сигарета?.. Выбрасывай!" [There is a cigarette? . . eject!] 

Как известно, в России запрещается продажа табачных изделий лицам, не достигшим 18 лет. Соблюдают ли этот закон в магазинах нашего региона?

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As is known, in Russia sale of tobacco articles to those, who did not reach 18 years, is forbidden. Is observed this law in the stores of our region? By the administration Of [rospotrebnadzora] for Tyumen' Oblast in the territory of city are regularly carried out unplanned measures for the supervision of sale of tobacco articles in the commercial enterprises, located near educational institutions. Since the beginning of this year the colleagues [Rospotrebnadzora] conducted two unplanned checkings along the bells of the perturbed citizens. In both cases the disturbances are revealed.

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Three Dead, 20 Missing In Russian Care Home Fire 

Three people died and at least 20 were missing after fire gutted a remote, wooden care home in the northwestern Russian republic of Komi Saturday, a spokeswoman for the local branch of the Emergencies Ministry said. . . .

Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted a spokesman for the local administration as saying an unextinguished cigarette could have been to blame.

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• Russian Building Fire Kills 23 Elderly Residents 

A fire swept through an apartment building for the elderly in a small village in northern Russia on Saturday evening, killing at least 23 people, a local official said.

The building in the town of Podyelsk, in the Komi region, was quickly engulfed in flames and was fully ablaze when rescuers arrived on the scene, said Konstantin Bobrov, a spokesman for the regional government.

Mr. Bobrov said that at least 26 people were inside at the time of the blaze, and that rescuers were able to save three. According to preliminary information, "careless smoking" was the likely cause of the fire, Mr. Bobrov said.

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