The government of the Republic of Belarus issued a decree on increasing cigarette import quotas for the current year from 1.5 billion to 2 billion sticks.

Many analysts, however, see the move as an indeterminate measure in the present context, with the market facing noticeable shortage of cigarette supplies after the import quotas had been reduced nearly 2.5 times from the year 2004. At the same time, demand for imported cigarettes is estimated at 4 to 4.5 billion sticks. The government’s attempt to prompt Belarusian smokers to turn to locally made cigarettes has proven vain so far and stirred up illegal turnover, just like many experts for the industry and state finance had warned. (vt)