A ban on the sale of cigarettes cheaper than 108 rubles per pack has been introduced

This threshold will be in effect from April 1 to December 31, 2021. “Previously, the minimum retail prices for cigarettes were set at 75% of the maximum retail prices”, - Interfax reports.

The EMC is calculated on the basis of the excise tax rate for 1 thousand pieces of cigarettes and cigarettes. The price includes the VAT rate plus a multiplying factor of 1.4. Those cigarettes that were produced or imported into Russia before April 1, and are already in the warehouses of enterprises, can be sold at the old prices only until July 1, 2021. After this date, the minimum selling price for a pack of cigarettes will be 108 rubles everywhere, regardless of the date and place of production.

In addition to tobacco products, uniform minimum retail prices are also set for alcohol and some other types of goods. These rates are regularly indexed to adjust for inflation and multipliers.

To limit the spread of tobacco in Russia, strict trade rules have been adopted, requiring retail outlets to close display cases with cigarettes and prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors.

Maxim Korolev, editor-in-chief of the industry news agency Russkiy Tabak, believes that the introduction of a minimum price for cigarettes of 108 rubles will lead to the disappearance of "gray" tobacco products. This will happen within three months. “The same Belarusian cigarettes cannot be called illegal, they are simply produced in another country and a small tax is paid there. Further, such cigarettes end up in our stores, and this is already an illegal part of their fate. Belarusian cigarettes will disappear from sale. Clandestine products and smuggled cigarettes from far abroad will also disappear”, - he said on the air of Sputnik radio.