The northeastern region continues to be the most affected by illicit cigarette trade, with a black market share of 36.8%, although it fell by over 10 percentage points compared with November, followed by northwestern and western regions (28.3% and 26.7%, respectively).
“Cheap whites”, cigarettes that have no legitimate market, continue to account for the largest part of the black market, of 56%, although their weight fell by 2.5 percentage points in January compared with November.
Smuggling from Moldova and Serbia remained constant (15.8% and 1.2%, respectively), the data showed.
Gilda Lazar, director of corporate affairs & communications with JTI Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria, said that she warned, since the signing of the agreement on small border traffic between Romania and Ukraine, that the authorities won’t be prepared to tackle efficiently the new wave of contraband.
The tobacco industry is the second largest tax payer in Romania after the oil industry. In 2015, the tobacco industry contributed around EUR3 billion to the state budget.
The main three tobacco companies operating in Romania are Japan Tobacco International, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris.