"Children and adolescents should not smoke, and the adults just do not have the right to sell them cigarettes

430 commercial establishments in the five cities of Ukraine participated in the program to prevent access by minors to cigarettes in places where they sell, which is financed by Philip Morris Ukraine teenager coming to stall and asked him to sell cigarettes. If the packet is a kid in his hands, it means that the seller first, violating Ukrainian laws prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to minors and providing for a violation of an administrative penalty, and secondly, the man behind the counter working indifferent. After all, what children and adolescents should not smoke, no one in doubt. That is why for the past eight years of All-Ukrainian charitable organization "The Public Council on Social Development Problems of the younger generation realizes National program to prevent access by minors to cigarettes in places of sale. Financial support for the program of Philip Morris Ukraine ".
- We are opposed to smoking, children, but they unfortunately often have the opportunity to buy cigarettes - said an expert on public relations and media company, Philip Morris Ukraine Olga Royenko. - That is why our company has many years of funding arrangements for the sellers to explain the relevant prohibitions. The results of the checks that we received this year, saying that the state and the public should do more together to solve the problem of teenage smoking in Ukraine.
To implement the program connects 430 commercial establishments in the five cities of Ukraine - Kiev, Simferopol, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa. Recently, volunteers checked their stalls, which sell tobacco products to determine whether enough dealers knowingly suited to the problem of child smoking. It was found only in Kiev in 100 (!) Percent of the vendors refused to sell cigarettes to children and adolescents. In Simferopol, these sellers were 86 percent in Dnipropetrovsk - 80, in Odessa - 57, but in Kharkov only 24 per cent. Controls the sale of cigarettes to minors and Gospotrebstandart.
- It is important that employers adhere to the rules of commerce - said during the announcement of results of inspections department director Gospotrebstandarta Pavlo Pastushenko. - I hope that our current testing for the sale of cigarettes to minors will force employers to take seriously the problem of teenage smoking. The state will continue to make efforts to solve this problem.

Prices of tobacco have increased by 40-60%. Sweat, as usual, buyers

From 1 November there was an increase in retail prices for cigarettes. The announcement of this came from the State Tax Inspectorate. Many tobacco brands became more expensive by 40-60%. Since the cost of cheap cigarettes LD (Red, Blue) was higher by 65% and up to 7.75 hryvnia, cheap "Vatra" became more expensive by 43% - up to 5 hryvnia per pack, and Vogue Ladies' went up by 50% and are now up 10 hryvnia per pack.

The rise in price was the result of efforts of tobacco companies to compensate their profits by raising prices. However, it should be noted that legislation to raise the excise tax rates have not yet entered into force.

October 22 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a bill that includes raising two rates of excise duty on tobacco products. The specialists of the tobacco control department of the Ukrainian Institute for Strategic Studies Health Ministry claimed that the indexation of prices, based on an increase in excise, was to raise prices only by 30-40%, but not higher. Representatives of the tobacco industry also previously talked about the price increase of 40%. Not all brands have risen in price by more than 40%, but such is.

Tobacco companies especially do not hide the fact that in addition to indexing in the price lay still and earnings. However, the size of this extra profit by anyone of them is called, because, according to the company's employees, is a commercial secret.

A coalition of civic organizations and initiatives, "For a smoke-free Ukraine" claims that tobacco companies are hypocrites, speaking about the need to raise prices. For legislation to raise the excise tax has not yet entered into force, since awaiting signature by the President. If the "tobacco companies" have raised the prices after entering into force the law, this increase would have occurred only in December. But so would be lost substantial profits November. However, hopes that the law would not be signed by the president, practically no. After previous bill to raise the excise tax on tobacco products they had not been vetoed.

Representatives of tobacco companies as a counterargument against the new law lead to the same fact: as soon as the bill passes, the market will increase the volume of contraband goods. It is possible that a similar situation in 2000 when the share of smuggled cigarettes accounted for about 50% of the market. Today's prices of cigarettes are such that they become very attractive to buyers. According to employees of tobacco companies, along with contraband cigarettes and counterfeit widely distributed, ie fake.

Tobacco companies do not provide forecasts of its revenues and production volumes in the latter half of 2009. Information which publishes the Ukrainian press, said about the increase in income of tobacco companies in comparison with the same period last year. If the first 3 quarters of 2009 legal cigarette market is estimated at 18 billion hryvnia, then have 6 billion went to pay the excise tax, and $ 3 billion went to pay VAT. Thus, the production, distribution and actually profit from "tobacco workers" to nearly 9 billion hryvnia. In 2008 it amounted to only 8 billion.