The bill on excise taxation policy for the period 2007-2010 went into  effect in Russia on 1 July.

Apart from outlining the government’s policy with regard to tobacco taxation, new rules of calculating taxes for so-called 'other tobacco products' (OTP), including cigars, pipe, hookah and RYO tobaccos, were introduced by the Russian finance ministry. From now on, excise taxes for OTP are to be rated from the
product's net weight, packaging excluded, which will result in a tax reduction of 10 to 15 percent, reports Rustabak industrial news agency.
Until now, the rates were calculated from gross weight. Rates as such are kept unchanged for these kinds of tobacco products (RUB 300, or USD 11.7 per 1 kilogramme), whereas cigarette taxes are to be raised by an average of 20 per cent a year.