The black market of cigarettes reached 10.4% of the total of consumption, in May this year, up by 9.8% in March, shows a study made by the research company Novel.According to data released by JTI on Monday, this is the highest level of smuggling since January 2020. The survey reveals that cigarette smuggling in May 2024 saw the highest increase in the Northeast, up 5.2 percentage points to 26.5%, followed by the Southeast (+2.6 percentage points to 7.4%), In terms of the origin of black market products, Duty Free continues to account for the largest share (36.3%), followed by the Republic of Moldova (up 7.4 p.p. to 23.3%) and Bulgaria (22.1%, up 1.6 p.p.). At the same time, the information centralized on the stopcontrabanda.ro platform, from the beginning of the year to date, shows that the authorities have seized some 34 million smuggled cigarettes, 75% of which in the south of the country. Compared to other European countries, there is a clear correlation between accessibility and the black market, with the highest rates in Ireland at 24.4% and France at 32.4%, according to the published statistics. In terms of penalties, in the first five months of the year, the Romanian Border Police seized about 1.3 million packs of cigarettes worth over 30 million lei. "During the period under review, border guards seized 6,300 kg of loose tobacco and 52 kg of hookah tobacco," said the inspector general of the Border Police, Police Superintendent Cornel-Laurian Stoica. Tobacco companies, big taxpayers, pay more than 20 billion lei annually to the state budget in excise duties, VAT and other taxes and contributions.
The second stage of the international Grand Chess Tour, one of the most important chess tournaments in the world, will take place in Bucharest from May 7 to May 16. The first stage of will take place in Warsaw, Poland. However, the event’s opening will take place on May 6. In addition to these two, […]
Voxxed Days Bucharest 2025 concluded the 2025 edition on 27th March, after two days of successful workshops and conferences. "I'm grateful we managed to bring together 300 developers and tech team leaders again this year, in a conference dedicated to a passionate developer community. It was a significantly bigger effort than in previous years, given […]
Romania’s civil shelters, which are to be used to protect people in the event of armed conflict, are few, unsanitary, and largely obsolete in terms of equipment, according to a report by the Court of Accounts. The audit conducted by the Court of Accounts on the situation of civil...
The organizers of music festivals Untold and Neversea have signed an agreement with the Bucharest City Hall to organize a "mega-festival" in the capital this year. The large-scale project is set for a pilot edition this year, with plans to have it "grow year by year." It will take place at Arena Naţională. The talks […]
Around 61% of Romanians say they have been the target of online fraud attempts, the most common consequences being the infection of the device with malware or viruses (42%) and the loss of money (30%), according to the latest study conducted by Reveal Marketing Research. Of those who have been targeted, 39% have experienced such […]
Showpad, active in AI-driven revenue enablement technology, announced the official launch of its Research and Development center in Bucharest. With headquarters in Ghent (Belgium) and Chicago (US), Showpad is "strategically positioning its new R&D center to tap into the rich talent pool and burgeoning technology ecosystem of Romania." It also underscores Showpad's dedication to accelerating […]
