OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2012. Belarus is expected to import 620 million cigarettes in 2012, on par with the level of 2011. Chief of the Ministry of Commerce’s Consumer Market Department Svetlana Slinko told reporters Thursday.

At the same time, Belarus has reduced cigarette imports 7 times since 2002, from 4 billion units in 2002 to 620 million units in 2011, the official informed.

Home-made tobacco goods accounted for 96.1% of the retail turnover in January-September 2012, (up 0.6% year on year). The share of imported cigarettes stood at 3.9%, down 0.6% year on year.