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Azeri Law Enforcement Turn a Blind Eye to Cigarette Smuggling
By Alisher Akhunov
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| Vendors openly sell contraband cigarettes on the streets of Baku |
Azerbaijani experts claim that tobacco products smuggling is caused by weak laws and the government’s complicity.
Smuggled cigarettes are on sale in many shops in Baku’s centre. Azeri policemen and officials are strolling by daily without paying attention to the illegal trade that goes on till late in the night.
Many brands are sold illegally here. Winston cigarettes cost only 1 AZN per box. The stamp on the cigarette box says: “Made in Russia”. On the side it reads: “This product has been made under license and control of JT International SA Company.”
Camel and Marlboro cigarettes also cost 1 AZN. Again, the box says “Made in Russia” and they have the same excise stamp “Special Mark. Russian Tobacco Products” attached. Both have been smuggled to Azerbaijan from Russia.
Besides Russian cigarettes, illegal “duty free” cigarettes are sold in Baku markets. The “duty free” label on cigarette packs means that no tax was paid to the state’s budget for these cigarettes. This means that Azerbaijan’s national budget is not receiving the money it deserves from the cigarettes.
European Tobacco-Baku OJSC is the main cigarette producer in Azerbaijan. Pasha Majidov, the head of the company’s public relations department, says that trading illegal cigarettes or cigarettes without duty-paid stamps is not acceptable: “This is criminal. The struggle of ordinary people and institutes like ours against it is not enough. Action on the governmental level should be taken.“ He says that the selling of fake cigarettes and cigarettes without duty-paid stamps harms his company’s business.
Some experts blame the problem of tobacco smuggling in Azerbaijan on the high ranking officials of the country.
Eyub Huseynov, chairman of Azerbaijan Free Customers Union, an organization that has been operating for ten years, said that despite efforts, the problem of smuggled tobacco products has not been solved in Azerbaijan.
He added that a year ago his Union developed a project sponsored by World Health Organization (WHO) and Canadian Tobacco Research Centre which established that 20% of cigarettes on the market are smuggled into Azerbaijan.
“The tobacco products are delivered mostly from Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Korea and other countries. For instance, we have Korean PINE cigarettes, Russian Novost, XXI Vek and others,” said Huseynov.
Leyla Ahmedova is 22 years old. She lives in Baku and has been smoking for two years. She smokes Marlboro cigarettes, which are delivered in Azerbaijan from Russia. Ahmedova said that she does not smoke local cigarettes, because of their low quality.
Taxi-driver Ilham Jafarov, 35, working in the Azerbaijani capital said that any foreign cigarettes could be bought in Baku’s shops. “Everywhere in Azerbaijan you could buy Marlboro, Winston and Camel cigarettes with a Russian excise stamp stuck on their box,” Jafarov said.
Ilham, who decline to give his last name, added that he believes officials stand behind cigarettes smuggling in Azerbaijan and they bring them into the country. “Ordinary people cannot deliver such goods,” Jafarov said.
He said that he pays no attention to license and other characteristics of cigarettes. “I do not buy cigarettes, which are made in Azerbaijan, because their price of 30 kopek shows their quality,” says Jafarov. Emin, who declined to give his last name, says he smokes American and Russian cigarettes, for example Captain Black and Davidoff, but “Azerbaijani cigarettes, like Baku, Azeri and Efsane are very dangerous. The quality of Russian Yava and Zoloto cigarettes is very low,” Emin said.
The smuggling of tobacco products in Azerbaijan is connected first of all to corruption, Huseynov said. “People importing and selling these goods are protected by high-ranking officials. If such officials are carrying on this business, we cannot prevent cigarettes smuggling in Azerbaijan,” he added.
Huseynov, who heads the Azerbaijan Free Customers Union, said illegally delivered cigarettes are mainly sold on Narimanov Avenue in Baku. “This avenue is populated mostly by refugees, who sell illegally delivered cigarettes,” he said.
“Laws in this field are very weak in Azerbaijan and they are violated. Cigarettes are sold in all newsstands without any license. According to Azerbaijani laws, tobacco products cannot be sold close to medical institutions and schools. But despite all efforts, tobacco products are still sold in these places,” Huseynov added.
For now law enforcement officers pass by the places where Russian and “duty free” cigarettes are sold and they ignore the illegal trade.
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