Tobacco.org

• KRASOVSKY: Does tobacco industry need to be saved? 

Tobacco tax increases are the most effective way to encourage people to stop smoking.

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, citing concern for the tobacco industry, on Nov. 11 vetoed legislation that would have hiked the excise tax on tobacco products once more.

It is worth remembering that - even though tobacco excise taxes were increased in September 2008, and again in February and May of this year - cigarette prices in Ukraine remain among the lowest in Europe. This leads directly to a public health catastrophe for the nation and creates conditions for rampant smuggling of made-in-Ukraine cigarettes to other nations. . . .

However, tobacco companies in Ukraine claimed that this tax increase would have been disastrous for their business. . . .

Transnational tobacco companies came to Ukraine in 1993. They promised employment, investment and revenue. Now they control 99 percent of the tobacco production in Ukraine. In 1992, Ukraine produced 9,000 tons of tobacco leaves. However, despite huge increases in cigarette production, tobacco growing has almost disappeared in the country. In 1996-2008, the foreign trade balance of tobacco leaves and products was negative for Ukraine and totaled more than $2 billion. It actually means that Ukrainian smokers invested $2 billion in the economies of other nations.

What tobacco companies actually produce is death. . . .

Many politicians in Ukraine already understand that high tobacco taxes are good both for public health and public revenues. I hope that the current and future president of Ukraine will understand this as well.

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• Tobacco tax veto criticized 

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, citing concern for the tobacco industry and fears of cigarette smuggling, on Nov. 11 vetoed legislation that would have hiked the excise tax on tobacco products by 36 percent.

Public health advocates called a news conference on Nov. 12 to criticize Yushchenko and note that price increases are the most effective way to reduce smoking. Roughly a third of Ukraine's adults smoke, one of the highest rates in the world.

Tobacco-related illnesses prematurely kill some 300 Ukrainians daily, said former Health Minister Mykola Polischuk. "The president's veto contradicts his mottos about European integration," Polishchuk said. "Today all Europe is fighting for air uncontaminated with tobacco smoke."

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Opinion: Restrictions on sale of alcohol, tobacco and beer advertising should be confirmed  

The initiatives of the government concerning restrictions on the sale of alcohol, as well as tobacco and beer advertising, should foresee a control over their fulfillment, otherwise these regulations will be only of a declarative character, Taras Rozputenko, a lawyer of the "Volkov Kozyakov and Partners" Union of Lawyers, has said

"Only in this way it is possible to hope for the effective fulfillment of these regulations and to avoid their conversion to 'dead' regulations," he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on a draft law of the Cabinet of Ministers on the implementation of additional restrictions on the sale of alcohol and tobacco and beer advertising.

Rozputenko said that certain amendments should be introduced into the Code on administrative violations, under which it is necessary to set out punitive penalties for violations of the mentioned restrictions.

According to Rozputenko, the agencies protecting the rights of consumers and the law enforcement agencies could oversee the observance of rules of the sale of alcohol and tobacco and the controls over the consumption of these products in public places

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Committee for humanitarian issues and social policy proposes draft law on strengthening control over sale of alcohol and tobacco 

The governmental committee for humanitarian issues and social policy has approved a draft law on amending some Ukrainian laws regarding the strengthening of control over the sale of alcohol and tobacco, the press service of vice premier Ivan Vasiunyk has reported.

The new draft law expands a list of places where sales and consumption of alcohol and tobacco are banned.

In particular, the law bans from drinking alcohol and smoking at public transport stops, in underground passages and trade and entertainment centers, children's and sports playgrounds, not taking into account places for smoking and drinking.

In addition, the law would restrict the sale of alcohol and tobacco in parks, recreation sites and places where public events are held, on beaches and public transport stops, apart from places for smoking and drinking.

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The market for tobacco in Ukraine increased at a compound annual growth rate of 4.3% between 2003 and 2008 

This databook provides key data and information on the tobacco market in Ukraine. This report is a comprehensive resource for market, category and segment level data including value, volume, distribution share and company & brand share. This report also provides expenditure and consumption data for the historic and forecast periods.

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• Ukrainian authorities fine 26,000 smokers in first half of 2009 for smoking in no-smoking places 

Since the start of the current year, 28,000 people have been fined for smoking in no-smoking places, which is 20% up year-over-year.

The department for PR and international activities at Ukraine's Interior Ministry reported that in 2008 38,000 protocols were filled up for violation of a ban on smoking.

The law on amendments to the law on measures to prevent and cut tobacco consumption and their harmful influence on public's health signed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko, violators are people, who move with lit cigarettes or pipes in healthcare, educational, sports and cultural objects, passenger waiting rooms at railway, bus stations and airport buildings, trains, taxi, public transport, elevators and playgrounds.

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• Ukraine’s ‘Lost’ Cigarettes Flood Europe 

garettes -- at $1.05 per pack -- making the country a bonanza for smugglers, whether by glider or more mundane pathways on the ground. Cars and trucks filled with Ukrainian-made Marlboros and Viceroys get waved through border checkpoints by customs guards who seem more than eager to accommodate, for a price. Loads also move by bus and train, bound for other European countries where high taxes make packs cost as much as $5 (Germany) or $10 (United Kingdom).

The backbone of this underground commerce -- the acquisition of the cigarettes themselves -- is by far the easiest part of the entire operation. The world's four leading multinational tobacco companies, Philip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Imperial Tobacco, and British American Tobacco (BAT), have produced billions of excess cigarettes in Ukraine, fueling a teeming black market that reaches across the European Union. Today, Ukraine is rivaled only by Russia as the top source of non-counterfeit brand cigarettes smuggled to Europe, EU officials say.

The booming trade in tobacco smuggling has major consequences, say industry experts. The growing traffic pushes huge supplies of cheap, untaxed, and unregulated cigarettes into the rest of Europe, undercutting otherwise successful attempts to curtail smoking. Worse, officials say, the trade is boosting organized crime gangs, who find the soft penalties and big profits hard to resist. . . .

Attracted by high smoking rates and the potential for rapid returns on investments, multinational tobacco companies rushed to acquire the state-run cigarette factories after the Soviet regime collapsed in 1991. Today, the big four tobacco companies -- Philip Morris, BAT, JTI, and Imperial -- control 99 percent of the Ukrainian cigarette market.

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Tymoshenko proposes ban on tobacco and low-alcohol drinks advertising 

Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko has called for a ban on tobacco and low-alcohol drinks advertising.

"I think it's high time to bring order to this sector and ban tobacco and low-alcohol drinks advertising on all these [billboards]. We need to make this advertising disappear altogether!" Tymoshenko said at a meeting of the government in Kyiv on Thursday.

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Poland seizes illegal cigarette factory 

Polish police said they arrested 13 people on suspicion they were running an illegal cigarette factory in southwestern Poland.

Sixty police and Customs officers Monday raided a building in the town of Kuznica Piaskowa, in the Silesia region, and confiscated 8.5 million cigarettes and 22 tons of shredded tobacco, Polish Radio said Tuesday.

Police said they believed it was the largest illegal cigarette producing plant ever uncovered in the country.

Four of the 13 arrested people were Ukrainian nationals

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Yushchenko signs law to hike up tobacco excise tax 

Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has signed a bill amending some legislative acts to increase tobacco excise taxes into law.

As reported earlier, Ukraine's parliament passed a bill increasing as of May 1, 2009, the minimum excise taxes on non-filter cigarettes from UAH 25 to UAH 50 per 1,000 and filtered cigarettes from UAH 47 to UAH 100 per 1,000. Thus, the minimum excise rate per pack of 20 non-filter cigarettes will grow from UAH 0.50 to UAH 1 and of 20 filtered cigarettes from UAH 0.94 to UAH 2.

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Yuschenko Approves Increase Of Cigarette Excise 

President Viktor Yuschenko has approved the increase of the excise fee for tobacco goods, the presidential press service said.

Yuschenko signed the relevant law endorsed by the Verkhovna Rada.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on March 31, the Verkhovna Rada has increased the ad valorem excise duty on cigarettes to 20% from 16% from May 1, 2009.

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IMF welcomes tobacco and alcohol excise rise in Ukraine 

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Polish Cigarette Traders Bemoan Tougher Rules for EU’s Frontier  

It’s Christmas in frozen eastern Poland, and Pawel Mlynarski is blaming the government for taking away his livelihood: contraband cigarettes.

Until recently, Mlynarski, a 25-year-old unemployed builder, would cross the border into Ukraine as many as four times a night. Each time, he would return with at least one carton of 200 cigarettes, or 10 packs, to sell in the bars of his hometown of Przemysl, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the European Union’s eastern frontier.

Then, on Dec. 1, Poland cut the import allowance to 40 smokes, or two packs. “This is an absolute tragedy,” says Mlynarski, who used to make as much as 20 zloty ($6.80) per carton selling packs of Prima. “Most people around here did the border. It was our only way of earning decent cash.”

The new limits are a result of the EU’s expansion a year ago of its passport-free movement of people, the so-called Schengen area, to include Poland.

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Kyiv restricts places where alcohol, tobacco can be sold 

Kyiv municipal council restricted retail sales of liquor beverages and tobacco goods in the capital's outlet chain. This decision was supported Friday by 117 city council deputies, far more than the minimum 61 votes required. . . .

selling of tobacco goods is banned closer than 150 meters from educations institutions, at markets, in pavilions and booths, in underground walkways and on metro stations, in stores on territory of parks and recreation zones.

Trading with liquor and tobacco is prohibited in computer clubs and Internet cafes, in places of mass public events, in museums, libraries, palaces of culture, on stadiums and playgrounds. . . .

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Main department of the Internal Affairs Ministry in Kyiv asks Kyiv city state administration to assist in prevention from sale of alcoholic drinks and tobacco goods to minors.

In October 2006, Kyiv council banned outdoor advertisements of strong and soft drinks, and tobacco goods, including on big size structures in Khreschatyk.

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Rada to raise cigarette excise between 16 and 20 percent 

The Verkhovna Rada intends to raise the excise rate for filter and non-filter cigarettes from 16% to 20%.

A total of 351 of required 226 deputies backed the bill No.3281 "On amending the law "On excise rate for tobacco products" in the first reading.

The bill offers to fix the ad valorem excise rate not in the ratio to the sales of the product, but in the ratio to the ceiling retail price.

Besides, the Verkhovna Rada intends to fix the ad valorem excise rate at the level of 20% for all other types of tobacco goods.

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