Tina Kandelaki: The Smoke of the Fatherland Is Sweet and Pleasant to Them

We must step on the hands of Lukashenka's tobacco mafia.

The famous Russian TV presenter Tina Kandelaki wrote in her telegram channel about the smuggling of tobacco from Belarus and the participation of Lukashenka and his oligarchs in these schemes:

- As soon as I shared information about the smuggling of tobacco from Belarus, I received a lot of comments confirming the catastrophic scale of the problem.

Already through my own channels, I received specific information about the beneficiaries of this story. In addition to Aliaksndr Lukashenka, who is sitting at the top of the counterfeit pyramid, I was given information about the specific perpetrators of this story.

Meet Aliaksei Aleksin - a friend of the ruler of Belarus and a kind of creative producer of a series about billions in earnings from smuggled tobacco. Through the ENERGO-OIL company, Mr. Aleksin has created a whole network for the distribution of tobacco products. Moreover, it covers both foreign and domestic markets.

To control the production of cigarettes, ENERGO-OIL became the only sales operator for the Hrodna tobacco factory Neman. Having invested 40 million euros in it, Aleksin's company equipped two production lines and built a new factory in Minsk. Think about it: a multimillion-dollar investment in tobacco production, when the consumption of cigarettes all over the world is reduced, and factories are completely closed. It's needless to say that no other legal entity can buy tobacco products directly from these enterprises.

It was Aleksin who, with the permission of the authorities, created the Tabakerka kiosk network. All of the above is a state task set personally by Lukashenka on the basis of documents labeled "for official use." Aleksin is close to other Belarusian oligarchs; together, they are called the ruler's "wallets."

Lukashenka's managers, Duty free shops, large wholesale companies are the actors of tobacco smuggling. The Hrodna Tobacco Factory, which, according to official data, supplies 72% of all products in Belarus, produces twice as many cigarettes as the inhabitants of the country could consume. The complete monopoly of the wholesale market creates excellent conditions for illegal activities. Local security officials completely control smuggling - without their complicity, such activities are impossible whatsoever, especially given the state's penetration into all spheres of the economy.

Russia, the Baltic states are sales markets that bring crazy profits to state smugglers. And here, I will repeat my thesis: Russian law enforcement agencies are able to block these channels. Yes, you have to step on the hands of the Belarusian tobacco mafia. And for this, first of all, we need laws that will give both customs officers and law enforcement officers more powers.

Money from excise taxes on tobacco products is a serious line of revenues in the country's budget. Of Russia - not Belarus! We are definitely not a testing ground. And the participants in gray schemes are not inviolable people. Let's finish this story already.