‘We don’t believe raising tobacco produce prices is going to result in the cheap cigarette shortage or even disappearance,’ the Planter Department Director of Omega Spirits Ltd. Dmitry Shlayen said to UrBC representative relating to the increased tobacco prices imposed due to the excise duty stamps becoming more expensive starting January 1, 2007.

‘This increase is not the one of a large-scale sort, the prices are not going to soar dramatically, and, besides, the customer will still have a choice in terms of prices, since the expensive kinds of cigarettes are to grow more pricey as well, and the cheap produce will still be available on the market,’ Mr Shlayen believes.

The leading tobacco producers have increased their prices by up to 15% to 17% over the last two weeks; the first company to do so was British American Tobacco, and Philip Morris, Gallaher Liggett-Ducat, Altadis, and Imperial Tobacco followed suit. Japan Tobacco International, the third most important player on the market, has not raised the prices so far, but the company’s distributors expect to get the new price lists as early as next week.