The cigarette smuggling rate increased in Romania to 17.8% in January, compared to a rate of 17.5% in November last year, according to Novel Research.

The north-east region continues to be the most affected area in Romania by cigarette smuggling. The illegal tobacco market had a share of 36.8% in the total market in this region and there are villages in Suceava and Botosani counties where contraband cigarettes represent almost 90% of the total consumption.

This is mainly due to the cigarette smuggling from Ukraine, where a cigarette pack costs RON 2.8. The same pack sells in Romania for RON 8, which is almost half the legal price.

Cigarette smuggling also had significant shares in the northwest and west regions, with 28.3%, respectively 26.7% of the total traded volume.

Most of the illegal cigarettes come from Ukraine, namely 22.5%, up by 5.5 percentage points compared to November 2015.

editor@romania-insider.com