Ukraine produced 51 billion cigarettes in 2019, which is 15% less than in 2018, Country General Manager of Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine Rastislav Cernak has said.
“Compared to European countries, the decline in the volume of the cigarette market was indeed proceeding rapidly. According to our data, the market dropped by 15% compared to the previous year. In 2011-2017, the decline was less than what we observed in 2019,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
There are several objective reasons for the fall of the Ukrainian market, according to Cernak, including an increase in excise duty.
“In 2018, the excise tax on cigarettes increased 30%, in 2019 we had two increases – in January by 20%, and in July, by an additional 9%. A significant increase in excise tax led to an increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes, which caused growth in illegal trade,” he said.
The general manager of Imperial Tobacco in Ukraine said that over the past few years, the level of illegal trade has doubled. According to TNS Kantar research, in 2019, the level of illegal trade reached 7%. The upward trend has been observed since 2017.
