Price differences between non-EU countries and Romania, on the one hand, and rapidly rising taxes, on the other hand, favour cigarette smuggling. According to statistics made by the Border Police at the request of the Curierul Naţional, until early December, border guards, independently or jointly with other competent institutions, confiscated 7.32 million cigarette packs, with an approximate value of 30 million lei. "They were found both at entry into the country - at the border crossing points or the "green border "- and at the exit to the Schengen States, the aim of the persons involved being "black" marketing on the distribution markets in our country, but especially on those in western Europe, where the price of a pack of cigarettes is about 4 times higher than in Romania ", mentions the Border Police in the document submitted to the Editor. According to it, as a result of the border guards' actions, 175 criminal cases were made only on smuggling and customs fraud, traffickers especially coming from the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.
In terms of attempts to introduce cigarettes in Romania, the most "active" borders were in the north, where traffickers have established true criminal groups, with segments abroad, at the border and in the country, trying to carry cigarette cases over the green border, especially at night.
Contacted by telephone, Gilda Lazăr, corporate affairs manager at JT International (JTI) Romania, one of the leading manufacturer of cigarettes, explained for the Curierul Naţional that contraband cigarettes account for about 25% of the amount on the Romanian market, the phenomenon being "helped" by the excessively growing fees. "Smuggling is favoured by the differences in cigarette price between non-EU countries and Romania, by the accelerated tax increases and by the too permissive legislation for those who violate it
