Participants of the tobacco market initiate the launch of an information campaign for representatives of retail distribution to combat illegal tobacco products, which share on the Ukrainian market in May 2021 increased to 15.9%, with 67% of sales of such products accounted for by legal trade channels.
The details of the information campaign initiated by the Ukrtyutyun Association, international corporations with capacities for the production of tobacco products in Ukraine, Ukrainian cigarette manufacturers, a number of their distributors and the Association of Ukrainian Cities were announced by Director of Ukrtyutyun Natalia Fesiun at a press conference held on November 5.
During the conference, she cited data from the Kantar Ukraine research institute, according to which, in January-May 2021, the volume of illegally sold cigarettes amounted to 7.21 billion pieces, which led to a shortfall in the state budget of UAH 13.2 billion in taxes.
To combat the growth of the illegal cigarette market in Ukraine, an information campaign was initiated for the owners and employees of retail stores to reduce their involvement in the distribution of illegal tobacco products.
During the information campaign, its participants plan to distribute more than 120,000 information leaflets with information on legal responsibility for the storage and sale of illegal cigarettes and its negative impact of illegal products on the Ukrainian cigarette market.
Fesiun said that the initiators of the campaign expect a decrease in the level of sales of illegal tobacco products through legal sales channels as early as 2022.
