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| A field planted with tobacco in the subshkodra field |
The topic of the Money show on Albanian media this Saturday was tobacco cultivation in our country and the revenues generated by this sector of the economy.
People should stay away from tobacco and smoking. Doctors show that the harm caused by smoking is deadly. Governments are also trying to combat it with restrictive campaigns and increased taxation. Scientists and businesses are seeking new ways to eliminate and replace the smoke from conventional cigarettes. However, for 1.8 billion people, or 1 in 4 people worldwide, smoking is a habit and a daily routine.
To reach the package sold on the market, the journey of tobacco plants is long. In Albania, it is cultivated and grown on a total area of 900 hectares by 2,800 farmers, and the best year of the past decade was 2014 when the planted area was 1,700 hectares.
"With the policies formulated by the EU, the tobacco area has been reduced for years. It has been reduced globally, not to mention halved. However, from our perspective as the Ministry of Agriculture, we do not see the damaging aspect. We do not encourage smoking, but we support the farmers because, in the end, this is an agricultural product, and certain areas are unable to grow anything else," said Gentian Selami, director of the tobacco agency in Albania, for the "Money" show on Euronews Albania.
The problems with tobacco are not only found in the field; efforts and sacrifices are needed, from seed sowing to selling. The other part belongs to the market with fair and unfair competition, where in our country, informal tobacco, on which no taxes are paid, causes a loss of 20 to 25 million euros to the budget.
"If we convert this informal consumption into cigarettes sold by formal suppliers, the losses for the state budget amount to around 80 million euros per year. The government itself has acknowledged that 30-35% is informal, but in my opinion, it is over 40-45%," emphasized Roland Shuperka, an expert on tobacco control.