BUCHAREST (Romania), August 16 (SeeNews) – The share of the cigarette black market in Romania expanded to 18.2% in July, up from 2017 average of 16%, with the bulk of contraband cigarettes coming from the country's northeastern neighbour Moldova, Romanian company Novel Research said on Thursday.
As much as 19.6% of all smuggled cigarettes originated in Moldova, down 0.4% percentage points year-on-year, Novel Research said in a press release.
The inflow of illicit cigarettes from Ukraine edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 9.5% in July compared to May, while contraband from Serbia rose by 0.6 percentage points on the month to 1.6% in July.
The so-called "cheap whites" - foreign-sounding brand names made solely for the black market - accounted for 63.9% of all smuggled cigarettes.
Illegal cigarettes had a 39.5% market share in Romania's northeastern region, Novel Research head Marian Marcu said. The most significant increase in illegal cigarettes trade was registered in the northwestern region, by 14.7 percentage points to 29.4%.
Cigarette manufacturers believe that, in order to reduce smuggling, several legislative changes they have long been pressing for are needed. Namely, producers call for stricter controls at the border crossings with Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as at markets, fairs and metro stations.
Tobacco industry is the second biggest contributor to Romania's budget, after the oil industry.