The increase of excise tax is not an effective measure in the fight against tobacco - this conclusion was made by sociologists of the “Bureau of statistical analysis”, after having conducted a large-scale study in the largest cities of Ukraine.
Almost 40% of Ukrainian smokers say that will keep on buying cigarettes of their favourite brands, even if tobacco products become more expensive after an increase in rates of excise duty. Moreover, 75% of Ukrainian smokers believe that the increase in excise duty on tobacco products will increase sales of illegal cigarettes. And 20% of smokers say openly that they will look for cheaper cigarettes, UNIAN reports. A market expert, Vladimir Demchak, explains that in case of increasing excise taxes, cheap fakes will have a great demand among consumers of cigarettes, indeed, which will certainly lead to shadowing of the tobacco products market. Already, about 15% of the tobacco products market is dangerous to health and illegal products from Moldova and Russia, and incidentally, no taxes are paid for such products.
It is not an effective measure of combating smoking the ban on tobacco advertising either. A sociologist Maria Chernova comments that the majority of urban dwellers who took part in the survey often face with information about the dangers of smoking, but not with the promotion of tobacco brands. Nevertheless, the consumer does not have enough information about the quality of cigarettes. At the same time, 61% of urban residents believe that the information on cigarette packs (labelling, warning labels, etc.) does not affect the person`s desire to quit or start smoking. The main reason of smoking formulated by the survey participants is the influence of friends and the desire to appear more adult.
