PM Borissov: Combating Cigarette Smuggling is a Priority

Combating cigarette smuggling is a main priority for the government, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said at a meeting with the five tobacco companies from the Initiative against Illicit Trade in Cigarettes, held on 26th of September.

Borissov reported the good results of the prosecution and the Ministry of Interior. Commenting on the requested wage increases in the MoI system and the protests announced to begin from January next year, Borissov said he wanted to raise the wages but would not work under pressure.

Borissov said that when this anti-corruption, anti-smuggling unit set up between the prosecutor's Office, the State Agency for National Security and the Customs and the Tax Authorities started work, the share of illegal trade with cigarrettes was 34%. It is now 7%, he added. This lost revenue went to “businessmen” and “polluted” the whole country.