The northeastern region continues to be the most affected by illicit cigarette trade in July 2017, with a black-market share of 40.4%, said Marian Marcu, general manager of Novel Research.
The main sources of illegal cigarettes in this region are Ukraine (9.4%), Moldova (20%) and “cheap whites” (64.4%), cigarettes that have no legitimate market, from China, UAE, Macedonia.
The western region has a black market share of 29.6%, smuggled cigarettes account for 20.7% in the southwest, 4.7% in the Bucharest area, and 1.4% in the central part of Romania.
The highest rate of illegal cigarette trading in the past nine years was recorded in January 2010, when it hit 36.3%.