OREANDA-NEWS. December 4, 2012. Belarus’ Grodno-based Neman tobacco factory plans export in excess of 1 billion cigarettes worth around USD 10 million in 2012, which will be a fourfold increase year on year.

Neman General Director Yuri Chernyshev made a statement to that effect at a press conference.

At the same time, he admitted that export proceeds alone will not be enough to build up sufficient foreign currency reserves at the tobacco mill. “It takes USD 100-120 million a year to keep the tobacco factory running. To earn that much we would have to export 50% of our output and reduce supplies to the local market,” Chernyshev said.

The best-selling export commodity at the moment is Super Slims and Compact King Size cigarettes, which are also popular on the domestic market of Belarus. “Belarus puts much effort in promoting healthy lifestyles. In that context a lot of people, who smoke, attempt to minimize health risks. The share of Super Slims and Compact King Size cigarettes, which contain half as much tobacco than standard-size cigarettes, has grown from 1% in 2005 to 12% in 2011. This year, according to estimates of the Ministry of Trade of Belarus, the market share will grow to around 16% and expand further to 20% in 2013,” Chernyshev said.

Grodno-based Neman tobacco factory was founded in 1861 and transformed into a joint-stock company with all shares controlled by the state in December 2007. Neman increased cigarette output 9.8% on the year in January-October 2012 to 21.9 billion units, including 985 million Super Slims and Compact King Size cigarettes. Neman has its cigarette production quota for 2012 raised to 25.5 billion units.

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