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Poland Loses $266 Million Annually Due To Belarusian Contraband Cigarettes

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Poland Loses $266 Million Annually Due To Belarusian Contraband Cigarettes

About 40% of contraband cigarettes in Poland smuggled from Belarus.

The government of the Prime Minister of Poland Ewa Kopacz limits expansion of the network of toll roads viaTOLL. Attention to that is turned to by Gazeta Polska, which notes that exactly the roads in the neighbourhood of border crossing points, actively used by smugglers, are not put on the list of “controlled” ones. They also include the roads, which start in Terespol and Kuźnica, are known to Belarusians perfectly well. Providing roads viaTOLL stations would bring additional money to the budget, and would make struggle against contrabandists easier: the police would be able to establish identities of suspicious drivers, the journalist of Gazeta Polska claims. He also expresses an opinion that Russian mafia is to gain the most from this situation. Belarusian contrabandists could be added, as tobacco goods from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in total make 82% of the “grey” cigarette market of Poland, Belsat reports.

More Cigarettes From Belarus Are Coming

At least it is said by the statistics of the Polish Border Service. Over the nine months of this year border guards have seized cigarettes for a sum of about 7.68 million PLN ($2.04 million) – while last year the cost of the seized goods was by 15% less. Because of the thorough control at the Western border, Belarusian cigarettes get to Poland via Lithuania.

“It is a chain of cigarettes’ supply from Belarus and Ukraine via the Baltic States. This problem is growing, but we are dealing with it,” the words of Slawomir Pichor, Vice Head of Customs Service, are quoted by Informacyjna Agencja Radiowa.

Belarusian cigarettes reach as far as the Great Britain, and their costs grow fivefold or sixfold along the way. It is written in a comment of an Internet user to another news item about a new seizure of illicit goods:

“A packet of cigarettes Fest costs about 0.6 pounds in Belarus, and it costs 3 -3.5 pounds in the Great Britain. It is a great difference, and the goods are in high demand.”

It is true, in a popular TV project of BBC, Fake Britain, it is demonstrated how in one of shops among smuggled cigarettes the British police finds … Festival from Hrodna!

40% Of Smuggled Cigarettes Are Belarusian

It’s an estimation of an expert of the Polish National Economic Chamber Agnieszka Durlik-Khouri in a conversation with Belsat.eu. She says that the proportions of contraband could vary depending on different factors. For example, in 2011 the number of attempts to earn money on goods of Belarusian tobacco plants increased dramatically – after the devaluation the difference in prices in Belarus and Poland soared then. Meanwhile the Polish budget is bearing heavy losses.

“Our guesstimate is, contraband cigarettes from Belarus cause losses of 1 billion PLN a year,” Agnieszka Durlik-Khouri noted.

Thus, due to Belarusian cigarettes the Polish budget annually loses about $265.7 million.

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