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.
Romania is among 19 European Union member states asking the European Commission to allocate funding for the creation of migrant return centres to be located outside the EU, amid a broader tightening of the bloc’s migration policy, Agerpres reported. The request follows decisions taken by...
The minister of economy, Radu Miruţă, announced that the Agency for Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Enterprises' Performance (AMEPIP) fined him, as a natural person, for "wanting a clean and fair management at a state-owned company" - Avioane Craiova. The fine is apparently linked to comments made by minister Miruţă about the management teams appointed […]
The Chamber of Deputies, as a decision-making body, adopted the Law on Combating Antisemitism and Xenophobia on December 17, after the law was first referred to the Constitutional Court and then sent back to Parliament for re-examination by president Nicușor Dan, who indicated ambiguous formulations in the text that would excessively extend its scope, making […]
Greenvolt Group, through Greenvolt Power, a developer of wind, photovoltaic, and battery energy storage projects, announced that it has agreed to the sale of a 253 MW onshore wind project in Ialomița County to Engie Romania, a subsidiary of Engie Group. This agreement follows a series of successful asset-rotation operations announced by Greenvolt in 2025, […]
The Romanian Competition Council has fined Philip Morris Trading, Interbrands Orbico, and Mediaposte Hit Mail with fines totaling RON 135.2 million (EUR 26.6 million) for participating in anti-competitive agreements on the heated tobacco products market. The decision is enforceable. Following an investigation, the competition authority said it found that there were agreements between Philip Morris […]
The government approved on December 17 an emergency ordinance by which the Ministry of Finance allocates almost RON 2.5 billion (nearly EUR 500 million), intended for the payment of arrears of the Ministry of Development (MDLPA) and the continuation of public investments. This comes on top of RON 1.35 billion allocated to the Ministry of […]
