Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
An increase in excise duties on imports of tobacco products in Azerbaijan may cause an increase in cigarette prices, the chairman of the board of "European Tobacco Baku" OJSC Rufat Guliyev told Trend Feb. 3.
He said that the change in market prices will affect only imported cigarettes. The prices on domestic cigarette will remain at the current level.
"It is difficult to say exactly," he said. "There is an objective law of supply and demand. If people are willing to buy cigarettes at a higher price, perhaps, the prices may increase. If the demand falls, the prices will not greatly increase or remain unchanged. I doubt that a sharp jump in prices will occur. In case of any changes, they will be insignificant."
He said that at present, European Tobacco Baku covers 27-30 percent of the demand for cigarettes in Azerbaijan.
"If we see that we are able to sell more, then we will increase the production volume," he said. The enterprise's production facilities enable us to do this. Of course, this depends on the market situation. An increase in the production of tobacco products depends on several factors, namely, the agreements with multinational companies-cigarette producers, market demand and prices for raw materials."
The Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has recently approved the new rates of excise duties on tobacco products imported in the country, which will come into force from March 1, 2015.
According to the decision, the rate of excise duty on imported cigarettes, cigarillos will be 4 AZN per 1,000 pieces; cigars - 10 AZN per 1,000 pieces (previously - $1.8 per 1,000 pieces).
The official exchange rate is 0.7844 AZN/USD Feb. 4.
Edited by CN
follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
