HIGH SOCIAL STATUS OF SMOKING IN RUSSIA HELPS TOBACCO SECTOR ENTRENCH ITS PROFITS
February 1st, 2008
BY MARK ROWE
INTERNATIONAL cigarette companies are having a profitable time investing in Russia, which remains a relatively soft touch for tobacco marketers. Smoking is still a badge of class and aspiration in the country: smoking Soviet-era unfiltered 'papirosi' is now seen as the preserve of those on low incomes and spurned by anyone with aspirations to a Western-style lifestyle. Russia is now the world's third largest cigarette market, with nearly 70% of men and 27% of its women being smokers, and low prices are still the norm, despite hikes in excise duties. ...
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