Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 21 / Trend, N. Umid
Smugglers share some 55 percent of Iran's annual $1.815 billions (based on official rate of 24,790 rials per each USD) of total cigarette trade value, which reaches up to $998 millions, Managing Director of Iranian Tobacco Company Masoum Najafian said, Jahanesanat newspaper reported.
He also went on to note that, Iranian Tobacco Company has sold some $52 million of cigarettes during last solar year (ended on March 21), adding that, the figure composes 11 percent of the whole market.
Some 46 billion cigarettes are projected to be produced in the country by the end of the current solar year, he added.
Cigarette consumption has increased by 100 percent during last 10 months, Najafian added.
According to official nearly 63.8 million cigarettes were smoked in Iran last solar year.
It should be recalled that, on August 17, ISNA news agency quoted head of the center for supervision over consumption of tobacco products Shamseddin Nikmanesh as saying Iranians smoke some $1.45 billion worth of cigarettes annually.
Some 50-60 billion cigarettes are smoked in Iran per year, of which 40 billion are produced domestically, 9 billions are imported legally, and the rest are smuggled, he explained.
According to previous reports, countries like UAE, Turkey and South Korea are the main exporters of cigarettes to Iran.
On October 5, MP Alireza Monadi-Sepidan told the Fars News Agency that imports should be regulated and illegal imports of up to $30 billion, which have dented the domestic production, should be curbed.
Regarding exports of cigarettes, it was reported back in July that Iran will be exporting its cigarettes to other countries.
According to General Inspection Organization's director Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the smuggled goods into the country amounted to around $20 billion in the Iranian year which ended in March 2011. The figure declined by $6 billion in the year to March 2012.
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