More than 10 percent of the cigarettes on the Romanian market come from smuggling whereas up to 8 percent of the alcohol beverages are counterfeit, according to a survey by Romanian experts in the two fields.
The total sale of cigarettes amounts to 35 bln pieces and the total value of the market goes up to 1.4 bln Euros.
According to Gilda Lazar, Corporate Affairs Director within JTI International, the standardization of cigarettes prices is among the top factors that are leading to smuggling. The increase in prices of cigarettes and alcohol with the introduction of a vice tax will cause the flourishing of the black market as well. The tobacco producers pay taxes of up 1 bln US dollars.
The alcohol black market went up 6 percent compared to the previous year. The counterfeit products bring a loss of 500 bln dollars globally, according to Cornel Valsan, manager al Pernot Ricard Romania.
