Cigarette

Since the beginning of the year, BGN 1.4 B more have been collected in taxes, compared to the previous year, stated Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova when asked what is being done in the fight against smuggling.

Bachvarova pointed out that over 46 million cigarettes, over 91,000 litres of alcohol and over 79,000 litres of fuel have been confiscated.

There is an increase in the sales of food, beverages, cigarettes, medicines, gasoline and clothes, showed statistics for July, compared to the previous year. There has been a decline in the sales of computers, home appliances and electronic trade.

Two employees of the Thessaloniki Port Authority, a customs official and two other suspects are being prosecuted in connection with the disappearance last February of a large quantity of confiscated cigarettes.

Authorities had confiscated 2,078 cardboard boxes containing around one million cigarettes in 2000 and stored them in a Thessaloniki port warehouse.

Greeks will be called upon to pay the hiked special taxes much earlier than was initially expected, according to newspaper Eleftheros Typos. In a desperate effort to raise public revenues, the Greek government plans to bring forward the planned imposition of the new taxes on fuel and cigarettes to October 1.

A proposed amendment by 16 SYRIZA deputies calling for a prohibition of the sale of cigarettes and other smoking-related products at corner shops was withdrawn Tuesday, following strong reaction from trade associations.

A proposed amendment by 16 SYRIZA deputies calling for a prohibition of the sale of cigarettes and smoking-related products at corner stores was withdrawn on Tuesday, following strong reaction from trade associations.

New smoking regulations are on the way in Turkey, with Health Minister Mehmet Müezzino?lu saying the ministry plans to prohibit all cigarette sales on university campuses and further reducing the number of outdoor public spaces that smokers can use. 

"We are banning the sale of cigarettes on university campuses," Müezzino?lu told the state-run Anadolu Agency on April 19.

Bulgarian lawmakers on Thursday adopted on second reading changes to tobacco legislation banning the sale of tobacco with specific flavor and aroma qualities.

Tobacco used to manually roll cigarettes will only be allowed on the market if it has "natural" aroma or flavor and contains no additional vitamins or caffeine that gives it additional colors.

The number of teenagers trying alcohol or cigarettes before they turn 14 has dropped, especially among girls, according to a World Health Organization study of 42 well-off nations.    

An illegal cigarettes factory was found on Saturday in the town of Lukovit, Northern Bulgaria, police say.

In a specialized action conducted jointly by the Interior Ministry, the Customs Agency, and the Chief Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), police discovered production and storage facilities, equipment, cigarette boxes, and around 13 tons of tobacco.