By KYIV. May 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The volume of the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine in February 2023 reached 20.2% of the entire market, and more than half of it was duty-free products, MP of Ukraine Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on Telegram, referring to the Kantar report.
“The latest Kantar report on the illegal tobacco market: data for February 2022 – 20.2% … The main part of the illegal goods was products labeled “duty-free” – 10.8%,” he wrote.
According to the data provided by Zhelezniak, in June 2020 the share of the illegal market was only 5%, but by August 2022 it reached 21.9%. At the same time, smuggling decreased from 3% to 1.8%, counterfeit products grew – from 1% to 8%, and duty-free products – from 2% to 12.2%.
By November, the share of illegal products, according to Kantar’s materials, was reduced to 17.8%: smuggling fell to 1.4%, counterfeit products to 5.2% and duty-free to 11.1%.
The growth by February was due to an increase in counterfeit products to 7.9%. The materials posted by the MP indicate that 83% are counterfeit goods of international tobacco companies without counterfeit excise stamps, while 17% are cigarettes from Ukrainian tobacco manufacturers that have signs of counterfeit excise stamps: Ukrainian Tobacco Production – 9% and United Tobacco – 8%.
Among the brands labeled for Duty Free or for export, sold illegally, the main one is Compliment (62%), and Lifa has another 8%, while among manufacturers, the main share of the Vinnykivska Tobacco Factory is 75%, and another 5% is United Tobacco.
The MP pointed out, with reference to the report, that the loss of the state budget due to uncollected taxes reached UAH 22 billion per year.
“These are 279 tanks, 560 armored personnel carriers or 136 Bayraktars,” he explained.
The materials state that 35% of illegal tobacco products are sold through kiosks, 33% through shops, 19% through street vendors and 10% in open markets.
