TDR sold 1.5 billion cigarettes in Serbia - Possible price increase until year's end

(Davor Tomaskovic)

Rovinj Tobacco Factory (TDR) announced today that it had sold about 1.5 billion cigarettes and kept the market share of 8% in the Serbian market.

Davor Tomaskovic, president of the management of TDR, said at today's press conference that the sales in the cigarette market in Serbia had dropped by over 12%, adding that the industry's overall revenue had plunged 20%.

He noted that excise taxes on cigarettes had grown 47% in two years, so that 91 dinars out of the total of 130 dinars paid for a pack of Ronhil cigarettes were going to the state.

However, as he said, Serbia still has significantly lower taxes than Croatia and EU countries, so that excise taxes and prices of cigarettes are expected to continue to grow.

Tomaskovic said it was possible that the prices of cigarettes would be increased until the year's end, adding that the amount of the increase would primarily depend on the government's tax policy.