Belarus is preparing draft legislation to tighten licensing requirements for electronic cigarette and e-liquid trade, with the proposal expected to reach parliament in the first half of 2026. Officials considered both a full ban and stricter regulation, ultimately opting to maintain retail availability while limiting which entities can manufacture, import, and conduct wholesale distribution. President Aleksandr Lukashenko cited rising youth vaping rates as a key concern but warned that an outright ban could fuel illicit cross-border trade, particularly with Russia. Authorities said the new framework would introduce tougher retail licensing standards and stronger enforcement, following inspections that found roughly 70% of retail outlets selling non-compliant products. The proposal, developed by state food industry group Belgospishcheprom, would apply to both vaping devices and nicotine liquids as part of broader public health oversight.
Tag: Belarus
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Cigarette Balloons Cause Poland to Summon Belarus Envoy
Poland has summoned Belarus’s charge d’affaires after dozens of meteorological balloons carrying untaxed cigarettes crossed into Polish airspace from Belarus, in what authorities described as mass smuggling attempts. The Polish Foreign Ministry said border guards and police recovered balloon debris and cigarette shipments—some carrying up to 1,500 packs—in several eastern regions, including near the Belarus border and in Białystok. Warsaw warned Minsk that it does not consent to such actions and said further incidents would have consequences, while questioning Belarus’s claim of having no knowledge of the operations. Polish media reported around 150 such balloon incidents to date.
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Polish Police Intercept Balloons Smuggling Cigarettes
Police reported that seven balloons believed to be carrying smuggled cigarettes crossed from Belarus into Poland on Christmas Eve. Four balloons were recovered in the north-eastern Podlaskie region carrying thousands of packets of illegal cigarettes, while three others were tracked in the eastern Lubelskie region. Poland’s Operational Command of the Armed Forces said the balloons were monitored by radar and parts of the airspace were temporarily closed to ensure civilian flight safety.
Authorities said the incident highlights the continued use of radio-controlled weather balloons by smugglers to move contraband across the Poland–Belarus border amid heightened border security. Similar methods have been detected across the region in recent weeks, with Lithuanian officials arresting 21 suspects over balloon-based cigarette smuggling, and Lithuania declaring a national state of emergency on December 9 following repeated airspace incursions linked to smuggling operations.
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Cigarette-Smuggling Balloons Shut Down Lithuanian Airport
Balloons carrying thousands of packs of illicit cigarettes shut down the Vilnius Airport in Lithuania when they floated into the country’s airspace.
According to the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC), 25 meteorological balloons were detected entering the country from Belarus, and two ended up directly over the airport.
The “airspace violations” follow a number of drone incursions suspected of being linked to Russia disrupting air traffic, according to the BBC. Russia has denied any involvement.
“Balloons with contraband cargo—cigarettes from Belarus—are nothing new in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland,” said a NCMC spokesperson. This year, 544 balloons have been recorded entering Lithuania from Belarus, according to the spokesperson. Last year, 966 balloons were recorded.
“Meteorological balloons are a rudimentary tool used by smugglers—they are cheaper than drones for transporting cigarettes from Belarus,” the spokesperson said. “Our services’ aim is to seize the largest possible quantities of contraband and to detain organizers and perpetrators so that this activity is unprofitable and does not pose a risk to civil aviation.”
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Belarus To Retain Control Over Tobacco
The tobacco business in Belarus will remain under state control, President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced on Dec. 2, 2024, according to BelTA.
While approving the candidacy of Andrei Demidovets for the post of Director General of Minsk Kristall Group Holding Management Co., the president noted that alcohol and tobacco companies in Belarus are managed by the state. “We will stick to this course,” the head of state emphasized.
“Tobacco products, alcohol account for a big part of the budget and this sector closely related to people’s health,” Lukashenko noted. “I do not remember that state-owned enterprises have ever produced something of poor quality. If we have a complete mess on the market, we will have self-distilled vodka or other alcohol of poor quality produced in garages and sold on the market for cheap.
“Therefore, the state control will remain over alcohol and tobacco in the country,” the president said.
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At the Turning Point
Smuggled cigarettes on the Latvian border Belarus’ role in the illicit cigarette trade is under scrutiny.
Contributed
For years, Belarus has been under scrutiny for its alleged distribution of illegal counterfeit cigarettes, a practice that is now under severe pressure in the current political landscape. This pressure casts a shadow of uncertainty over the industry’s future.
A cornerstone of the Belarus national budget, the tobacco industry contributed BYR2.5 billion ($76.45 million) in 2023. However, the industry is now facing alarming trends, as highlighted by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko during a governmental meeting in August 2024.
The reasons for the existing challenges might be different, Lukashenko vaguely said, emphasizing that despite that, “It is necessary to develop measures to preserve production and export volumes to the maximum extent possible.”
The Belarusian tobacco industry has been shrouded in secrecy for over a decade. In 2015, the last time official information was revealed, Belarusian authorities set the quota of cigarette consumption on the domestic market at 30 billion pieces. At that time, local analysts indicated that the figure had nothing to do with reality.
Research by KPMG showed that the actual consumption of cigarettes in Belarus is close to 18 billion pieces. Around 13 billion cigarettes are exported, of which 8.6 billion end up in Russia and 4.3 billion in the EU.
Woes about the flow of cheap cigarettes, often smuggled, from Belarus have become common in recent years not only in the European Union but also in Russia.
In 2020, the Russian association Anticounterfeit calculated that Belarus’ domestic consumption was around 17 billion cigarettes and that production nearly three times exceeded the country’s demand. In a letter to the Russian Ministry of Justice, Anticounterfeit claimed that cheap cigarette production was put on an industrial scale in Belarus. The nameplate capacity of the Belarusian tobacco factories was estimated at 67 billion pieces, meaning export potential was tremendous.
In 2023, Belarus accounted for 84.5 percent of illegal cigarettes sold on the Russian market, estimated the Russian National Scientific Competence Center for Combating Illegal Circulation of Industrial Products. In total, illegal—counterfeit and smuggled—cigarettes represented 15.6 percent of sales on the Russian market. This illicit trade cost the Russian budget around RUB130 billion ($1.35 billion) of lost income in 2023, the analysts calculated.
Belarussian tobacco consumption is estimated to be close to 18 million pieces per year. Shut Borders
During the past few years, the flow of illegal cigarettes from Belarus to the European Union has subsided, as in the context of political tensions, the Baltic countries and Poland tightened border controls.
As estimated by KPMG, the volume of smuggled cigarettes from Belarus to the EU dropped by 500 million in 2023 and by almost 2 billion pieces over the past three years. The analysts also cite the tighter control and closure of a number of checkpoints on the border for the decline. The place of Belarusian cigarettes is being taken by suppliers from other countries, primarily Turkiye and Algeria.
Counterfeit supplies from Belarus to European countries decreased from 2.1 billion to 1.5 billion cigarettes over the year.
However, Belarus remains the absolute leader in the supply of illegal “white” cigarettes, which mean those smuggled and sold under their own brands to European countries.
In this category, Belarus holds a staggering 43 percent share in total deliveries to Europe. A year earlier, this figure was around 52 percent, KPMG calculated.
The most popular western destination for tobacco smuggling from Belarus is Poland. Last year, 0.74 billion illegal Belarusian cigarettes entered the country, which is almost 17 percent less than in 2022 and almost half as much as in 2020. The supply of illicit cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania fell by 15.2 percent to 0.39 billion pieces and from Belarus to Latvia fell by 27.35 percent to 0.16 billion pieces.
Russia has declared war on counterfeit cigarettes from Belarus. Unraveling Tobacco War?
However, the main blow comes from the Russian market, where authorities also tightened the screws on illegal sales. Observers believe that problems in Russia were the key reason for Lukashenko’s concerns during the recent government meeting.
“The meeting is definitely not happening out of nowhere. But we need to call things by their proper names. We are not talking about problems with exports but with smuggling. Legal exports have been virtually nonexistent for a long time,” Nick & Mike, a local analytical Telegram channel reported.
“Strengthening controls on the western border, where Belarusian state counterfeit goods are seized in industrial quantities, including from tanks with resin, is nothing compared to what the eastern neighbor is doing. Russia has tacitly declared a ‘tobacco war’ and has been striking at illegal businesses,” the analyst claimed, referring to the intensified efforts by Russian authorities to curb illegal tobacco traffic from Belarus.
For years, Russian authorities have been turning a blind eye to illegal cigarette imports from Belarus, but this era seems to be coming to its end, a source in the tobacco industry who wished to remain anonymous told Tobacco Reporter.
“I would not call it a war, though. This is primarily about bringing the domestic market in order. Everybody knew that a situation where Russia loses over $1 billion in tax revenues every year to cigarette smuggling from Belarus would not last forever. The country could afford it during the rich times, but now every penny counts,” the source added.
In April 2024, Russia listed tobacco products among the goods of strategic importance. Andrey Mayorov, deputy head of the main directorate for customs control at the Russian Federal Customs Service, revealed that this move helped the authorities tighten their control of illegal tobacco traffic. One of the first consequences of the step, he added, was a hike in the number of criminal cases opened against tobacco smugglers.
More legal changes are on the way to turn down illegal cigarette imports to Russia from Belarus.
An agreement on indirect taxes between Russia and Belarus scheduled to gradually come into force through 2027 is expected to fully protect the Russian market from gray imports of cigarettes from Belarus, assumed Alexei Sazanov, deputy finance minister of Russia.
“The problem of gray imports stems from a significant difference between tax rates in the countries: Russian excise rates on tobacco products are significantly higher than in Belarus. This means that Belarusian tobacco manufacturers, producing cigarettes in their country, simply supply part of the goods to the Russian market, de facto paying taxes at Belarusian rates,” Sazanov explained.
The reform is stretched in time not to provoke “social and economic tensions in Belarus,” the deputy minister added.
Change of Players
The Belarusian tobacco industry is also going through a profound transformation, with Western companies gradually reducing their presence in the country.
In September 2024, Japan Tobacco International and its British subsidiary Gallaher Group terminated licensing agreements with the Tabak-Invest factory, suspending production of the brands Winston, Camel, Sobranie and Monte-Carlo.
JTI’s Minsk office confirmed that the agreement originally concluded in 2008 is no longer in force, declining to provide additional details.
In December 2023, Tabak-Invest and several of its co-owners were subjected to U.S. sanctions. The restrictions prohibited U.S. citizens and businesses from any deals with sanctioned parties.
In the meantime, JTI continues doing business in Russia. In March 2022, the company announced a suspension of investments in its four factories and marketing activity in the country. However, in November 2023, the company announced it would continue operations, complying with international and Russian regulations.
JTI may switch to importing its brands from Russia to Belarus, writes Belmarket, a local business news outlet. Alternatively, the company could sign a new license agreement with a Belarusian tobacco factory that is not subjected to Western sanctions. This could be newcomers Sentoni PRO and Alidi-West, Belmarket’s analysts speculated.
Alidi-West is a Russian company that distributes Kent cigarettes. It kicked off sales in Belarus in July 2024. Sentoni PRO is another firm registered to sell cigarettes in the country this year.
According to the Belarusian Ministry of Taxes and Duties, Sentoni PRO will produce Kent, Pall Mall, Rothmans, Vogue and Lucky Strike brands.
These players may also launch production at the capacities previously run by Western firms.
BAT in Belarus held a contract manufacturing agreement with the Grodno tobacco factory Neman. After Neman was subjected to the U.S. sanctions in 2021, the contract was canceled, and a part of BAT’s production was transferred to Tabak-Invest.
Around the same time, sanctions were also imposed against another Minsk factory, Inter Tobacco, which forced Philip Morris to withdraw from the license production.
In September 2023, BAT announced a deal to sell its business in Russia and Belarus to a consortium of Russian investors and local management, BAT Russia. Upon completion of the “business transfer,” the new structure became known as the ITMS Group of Companies. BAT left the business to its management along with the rights to the trademarks.
The gradual withdrawal of foreign business from Belarus could add pressure to the tobacco industry, which is braced for a hard time ahead.
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Lithuania Takes Aim at Cigarette Balloons
Photo: andrei310 Lithuania may permit its border guards to shoot down balloons carrying contraband from Belarus or Russia when they cross the border, reports The Baltic Times.
“In my opinion, border guards should have the right to shoot them down in the air,” Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters on Sept. 30.
The minister’s comments came after a balloon, suspected to have come from Belarus and carrying smuggled cigarettes, fell within Vilnius Airport’s airfield on Sept. 28.
Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (SBGS), said that border guards have neither the necessary weapons nor the legal authority to shoot down objects that illegally cross the Lithuanian border by air.
He explained that border guards use assault rifles, which do not have the technical capability to shoot down higher-flying objects.
The SBGS has recorded around 250 incidents involving such balloons in the past month.
Poland too has recorded increased attempts to smuggle cigarettes into its territory by air.
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Smugglers Caught Using Weather Balloons
Image: Bilal Polish border guards detained two people who had used weather balloons to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, reports TVP World.
The suspects had attempted to flee and were found with 1,500 packs of illegal cigarettes worth close to PLN24,500 (€6,377).
On the same day, border guards in Nowy Dwor found another similar package containing illicit cigarettes worth over PLN23,000 along with the remains of a weather balloon fitted with a tracker.
Additional balloons were found with packages of cigarettes valued at a combined PLN67,000.
In the wake of enhanced security measures, including a steel barrier and thermal imaging, along the border between Poland and Belarus, cigarette smugglers have been looking for new ways to move contraband into the European Union.
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Belarus Bans 47 Vapes
Image: natatravel Belarus’ State Committee for Standardization has banned 47 types of electronic cigarettes from sale, reports Novosti.
In January and February, authorities in the Gomel region identified traders that were selling electronic smoking systems that failed to comply with legislative requirements. Some vapes exceeded the permissible nicotine level of 20 mg per ml, while others lacked health warnings, declaration on usage limitations and expiration dates,
Many of the vapes were sold without documents proving compliance and safety of the product.
The dangerous products were withdrawn from sale, and authorities have taken administrative measures against their sellers.
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Belarus Smugglers Busted in Poland
Polish law enforcement officials have disrupted the operations of Belarusian tobacco smugglers and seizing large amounts of cash and valuables, according to Europol. The criminals were initially under investigation for drug trafficking in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Intelligence provided to the investigators by Europol revealed that the suspects were trafficking large quantities of tobacco products from Belarus to Poland. The proceeds of these criminal activities were laundered through cash conversion methods, property investments, the purchase of expensive luxury goods and the use of cryptocurrencies.
Police detained 15 individuals and seized considerable amounts of cash seized in zlotys, euros and U.S. dollars, along with gold bars, jewelry, and seven luxury vehicles. The total value of seizures amounted to €2 million ($2.14 million).
Europol’s dissemination of intelligence packages has given investigators new insight into the criminal network. In addition to identifying tobacco smuggling as a source of income, investigators were now able to trace the illicit profits. Analysis of encrypted data intercepted from criminals’ phones also revealed locations used to hide large sums of cash. Europol provided an analyst and a specialist on-site to assist the 200 Polish law enforcement officers involved in the operation.
The European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) tackles threats posed by organized and serious international crime affecting the EU. EMPACT strengthens intelligence, strategic and operational cooperation between national authorities, EU institutions and bodies, and international partners. EMPACT runs in four-year cycles focusing on common EU crime priorities.