There will be no shortage of premium cigarettes in Russia due to the departure of British American Tobacco (BAT). Pavel Shapkin, Chairman of the National Union for the Protection of Consumer Rights, expressed this opinion, commenting on the decision of the manufacturer in an interview with socialbites.ca.
“Cigarettes can be produced by many companies; they all have essentially the same composition and only different sauces. Therefore, there will be no shortage of premium cigarettes in Russia,” Shapkin explained.
According to him, the BAT business is being sold to a friendly structure and will likely continue to produce the line of the manufacturer leaving Russia, which includes Dunhill, Kent, Vogue, Rothmans, Pall Mall, Lucky Strike, Java. Experts believe that the names may change, but this is not a fact.
“The cost of producing cigarettes is cheap and its marginality exceeds 1000%. Yes, there are taxes, but even taking those into account, the business is very profitable,” Shapkin explained.
The official stated that nothing will change for the Russians under the BAT decision. As an example, the specialist cited the restaurants of Vkusno i Tochka, which, according to him, successfully replaced Mc’Donalds, which left Russia. He predicted that the same would apply to cigarettes.
bat announced Regarding the sale of Russian and Belarusian enterprises on Thursday. The buyer was a consortium led by the BAT Russia administration. The deal is expected to be completed next month.
Formerly US Department of Justice fine British American Tobacco for $629 million for shipment to North Korea.