Share of illegal cigarettes in Ukraine in Aug up to record 21.9% since independence
The share of illicit tobacco products in the Ukrainian market in August 2022 increased by 5 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the average annual indicator for 2021 – up to 21.9% from 16.9%, the volume of the shadow market became maximum since the independence of Ukraine.
According to an October study by the Kantar Ukraine Institute, which is available to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the total volume of illegally sold cigarettes since the beginning of 2022 has reached 8.46 billion units, equaling the volumes for the whole of 2021, which led to a shortage of UAH 20.65 billion in tax payments.
Kantar Ukraine specified that in August 2022 the share of fake cigarettes in Ukraine was 8% of the total market, while in 2021 in November - 6.6%, August - 5.6% and February - 4.2%.
The share of cigarettes labeled as intended for export and sales in Duty Free, but at the same time sold illegally in Ukraine, in November of this year amounted to 12.2% of the entire Ukrainian cigarette market, although in November 2021 it was at the level of 10.9%, in August - 9.8% and in February - 6.9%.
The Institute clarified that 56% of tobacco products (in 2021 - 62%), illegally sold in 2022 as export or Duty Free products, have a mark of production of Vynnyky Tobacco Factory (Vynnyky, Lviv region) and are labeled as not intended for sale in Ukraine. The share of unidentified manufacturers was 24% (in 2021 - 23%), United Tobacco LLC (Zhovti Vody, Dnipropetrovsk region) - 19% (in 2021 - 15%).
In turn, the share of smuggled cigarettes in August 2022 decreased to 1.8% compared to 2.9% last year in November and 2.7% in August 2021.