Boris Titov, the ombudsman for Russian business, called for a unified state system to control illicit trade in tobacco products, which conservative estimates put at 35-40 per cent of the market, the news agency Tass reported.

Titov in his annual report to President Vladimir Putin proposed a system similar to that used for alcoholic beverages – computerized data collection of information on use of raw materials used in alcohol production, output volume and left-over materials, Tass said. The Russian Finance Minister previously said legislation similar to what Titov proposed is before parliament, the news agency reported.