Cigarette prices rise in Azerbaijan due to expensive raw material
By Sara Rajabova
Smokers fuming about the rising cost of cigarettes in Azerbaijan should blame the higher cost of raw materials in global markets.
The increase in the price of raw materials has affected retail cigarette prices, European Tobacco Baku joint-stock company manager Anar Hatamov told Trend news agency.
Cigarette prices have increased by 0.10-0.20 manats per pack in several Baku shops.
"Viceroy", "West", "LD", all types of "Winston", and other popular cigarette brands have witnessed price increase.
Hatamov said the average cost of a pack of cigarettes in Azerbaijan is still 10 percent lower than other parts of the world.
The influence of global tobacco prices on the retail cigarette price is because of the fact that more than half of the products in the Azerbaijani market are imported from abroad, while up to 50 percent of demand for tobacco products is met by domestic production.
The total demand of the Azerbaijani market for tobacco products is estimated at 10 billion cigarettes per year.
Hatamov said increase in retail cigarette prices will decrease their use by young people and minors.
Increase in retail cigarette prices was viewed earlier as a means of reducing the number of smokers.
MP Musa Guliyev said the issue of increasing the excise tax on tobacco products, another step aimed at reducing the number of smokers, may be discussed at the Parliament.
Unfortunately, the number of smokers in Azerbaijan is also high. According to the WHO representative in the country, Azerbaijan ranks 85th among the smoking countries and is the 22nd for the number of cigarettes per capita.
Another disappointing fact is that smoking among schoolchildren aged 13-14 is increasing on a yearly basis in the country.
According to researches, 45 percent of men in Azerbaijan smoke and the number of female smokers has increased from 3 percent six to seven years ago to 10 percent at present.