The market value of contraband cigarettes seized by Romanian authorities in 2021 amounted to over RON68 million.
“A low level of illicit trafficking and a predictable fiscal framework for all categories of nicotine products are essential conditions for a favorable context for investments and implicitly for the increase of contributions to the state budget,” stated Ileana Dumitru, Legal and External Affairs Director, Central Europe South Area within BAT.
The black market cigarettes in Romania decreased to 8.7% in 2021 compared to 9.4% in 2020, according to the latest Novel Research study. Also, in November 2021, it reached even 7.4% of the total consumption, the lowest level recorded in the last 15 years.
“Due to a decline in the black cigarette market, BAT paid almost 1 billion lei more to the state budget in the first nine months of 2021 than in the same period of 2020 and we want to maintain this growth rate,” Ileana Dumitru also said.
In 2020, BAT became the largest taxpayer in Romania after paying almost RON9.6 billion in state budget taxes.
According to the KPMG Project Sun 2021 report, Romania ranks sixth among EU member states and first in Eastern Europe in terms of cigarette smuggling. BAT continues to support the authorities in their efforts to combat tobacco smuggling: along with other projects, in 2021, 250 mobile surveillance cameras with motion sensors such as hunting cameras were donated to the Romanian Border Police and installed in locations identified based on risk analyses at the external border of the European Union.
The campaign is developed in partnership with the Romanian Police, the Romanian Border Police, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) and the General Customs Directorate.
BAT has more than 3,000 employees in Romania and generates 30,000 more jobs indirectly through the distribution and supply chain.