The excise duty on filter cigarettes increases from “75 lei + 24%” to “200 lei + 18%” per 1,000 pieces, as provided in the 2015 budgetary-fiscal policy approved by the Government. The excise on 1,000 cigarettes without filter will rise from 30 to 50 lei. Contacted by IPN, program coordinator at the Center for Health Policy and Research Ghenadie Turcanu said the mechanism is correct because namely the rise in the fixed tax rate prevents the state budget revenues form cigarette sales from declining.

“When there is a fixed minimum tax rate, the accumulated money is guaranteed money that come into the state budget, but the money collected from percentage is not guaranteed because when the producers reduce prices, as they did now, the percentage rate does nor ensure stable budget revenues,” explained Ghenadie Turcanu.

He also said that the formula approved by the Government does not clearly say how much the taxes will represent of the price of a pack of cigarettes in percentage. “We cannot understand if the rate increased or not because the informative note does not contain such data, while those who draft such bills do not make these data public for particular reasons, or because they don’t know them,” stated Ghenadie Turcanu.

Moldova’s development partners called on the Government to include the approval of the bill on tobacco control and of the bill on alcohol control in its immediate actions in the health sector. They also recommended that the Government’s plan of action should envision the gradual rise in the excises on tobacco to at least 75% of the selling price of cigarettes.