Romanian authorities seize smuggled cigarettes worth approx 15 million euros in 2019

Over 150 million smuggled cigarettes, worth 71 million lei (Rs 15 million euros), were seized by the Romanian authorities in 2019, the equivalent of a 40 pct increase compared to the previous year, shows data centralized by the Stop Smuggling portal, quoted by the British American Tobacco (BAT) in a press release, sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

In this context, BAT representatives mention that the black market in Romania has dropped, for the first time in the last six years, below 14 pct, "which contributed to higher budget revenues from cigarette taxation".

"The absence of fiscal and legislative surprises in 2019 and the fact that the authorities have made sustained efforts against smugglers have brought more money to the budget and less organized crime networks. It is encouraging that Romania is beginning to join the border countries of the European Union which treat the black market as a real threat to their security. Yet, without a national strategy to combat illicit trafficking, supported by an integrated action plan of all the responsible state structures, Romania will find it difficult to follow the success examples of Poland and Bulgaria, where the black market fell below 10 pct, respectively 5 pct," says Ileana Dumitru, legal and public relations director of the British American Tobacco.

According to official figures, Romania has the highest level of cigarette smuggling in Eastern Europe, and the illicit trafficking of cigarettes damages, annually, the Romanian state with over 650 million euros (about 3 billion lei). Moreover, each container of illegal cigarettes means one million euros profit for the smuggling gangs.