Last year, the state collected 100 million euros from excise taxes on tobacco products, which is a record so far and more than twice the amount compared to 2019 and 2020, according to data from the annual report of the Directorate for the Customs System and Customs Policy of the Ministry of Finance for 2023 . a year.
This Directorate also states that "finally almost the entire market of tobacco products has returned to legal flows".
In 2019, the state treasury collected 46,3 million euros from excise taxes on tobacco products, and in 2020, 45,5 million euros. In July 2021, the then Government and the Revenue and Customs Administration, which he headed Aleksandar Damjanović, made a decision to prohibit the storage of tobacco products in the Bar Port Free Zone, due to suspicions that well-coordinated domestic and international cigarette smuggling is carried out through that territory.
The Prosecutor's Office is conducting several investigations into smuggling from the Free Zone, and according to their suspicions, cigarettes came to this zone and then fictitious papers were made that the cigarettes were intended for other destinations, while in reality they were exported to the interior of Montenegro, but also to other countries.
At that time, the free zone in the Novi duvanski kombinat factory, which was owned by the company "BMJ Industries FZ" from the United Arab Emirates, was also closed.
Already for 2021, the collection of excise duties on tobacco products has been increased to 60,4 million euros. Measures to combat cigarette smuggling continued in 2022 and 2023.
"The cigarette market recorded a recovery in 2023 as well, so 6,7 percent more cigarettes were sold through legal channels than in 2022. This significantly reduced the effect of the black market of cigarettes and finally almost the entire market returned to legal flows. At the same time, the total revenues of the budget of Montenegro based on excise taxes on all tobacco products in 2023 amounted to 100,23 million euros", it was stated in the report of this Directorate.
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the retail of tobacco products said that the excise taxes for cigarettes were increased by about 2019 percent compared to 15, and that the collection could have been as much higher on that basis. However, the total collection of excise duties on tobacco products increased by 120 percent in 2023 compared to 2019.
"Based on the data from the report, it can be estimated that only due to the suppression of the black market, the state's income from excise taxes increased by 40 to 45 million euros, as well as by another ten million in VAT due to the increase in turnover in legal sales. That is, with the decision to suppress organized cigarette smuggling in the past two and a half years, the state has gained over one hundred million euros in additional revenue, and the organizers of the smuggling have lost the same amount," said the "Vijesti" interlocutor.
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI TOC) previously warned about international cigarette smuggling through the Port of Bar and Montenegro.
"Despite some actions that give the impression that cigarette smuggling is a big business in Montenegro, there was very little prosecution. Since there are no judicially proven cases, reports and stories about Montenegrin criminal organizations are often anecdotal. One theory is that this is because certain criminal networks have enjoyed political protection, or even that there is collusion between criminal groups and state actors (as has been the case in the past). The "Grand" clan and the Mojkovac clan are often mentioned as being close to key actors in politics and the security services. These clans allegedly use money earned from cigarette smuggling to carry out legitimate business activities. Whoever runs the business does so discreetly and wants to keep it that way. People who investigate or speak out about cigarette smuggling in Montenegro are often exposed to intimidation and attacks," the report of the Global Initiative says.
They also stated that cigarette smuggling is one of the main forms of organized crime in the Balkans, and that the center of smuggling is Montenegro, "where fake brands of cigarettes are produced and smuggled to the EU, the Middle East and Africa through the Port of Bar".
The then Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, he said in July 2021 that "a strong blow has finally been delivered to the organized criminal groups that have organized smuggling through the Port of Bar for decades".
Prime Minister at the time Zdravko Krivokapic said that Great Britain calculated that after the elimination of cigarette smuggling from Montenegro, it had 237 million pounds of income.
Sales of smokeless tobacco products are growing
The directorate states that certain changes in the use of different types of tobacco products have been noticed on the Montenegrin market in recent years.
"Cigarettes are still dominant in total sales, smokeless tobacco products are becoming a significant part of that market. The turnover of these tobacco products in 2023 will record an increase of 28% compared to 2022," the report stated.
The excise tax on smokeless tobacco products was introduced in 2020, and only 251 thousand euros were collected on that basis.
In 2021, 41 million packs of classic cigarettes and around three million packs of smokeless products were sold in Montenegro. At that time, the minimum excise duty on a pack of classic cigarettes was around one and a half euros, and on smokeless cigarettes 0,43 euros.
In 2022, the government changed the excise calendar, which accelerates the increase in excise duties on smokeless tobacco products. From January 1, 2024, the minimum excise duty on a pack of smokeless cigarettes will be 1,05 euros.
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