Tax preferences for TWEN are a step backwards
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2025 9:39 am
In 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine harmonized excise duties on TWEN and the minimum excise duty on cigarettes and cigarillos to the same level. This decision demonstrated impressive efficiency: revenues to the State Budget from excise duties on TWEN increased 6 times in just 1 year ( from UAH 1.7 billion in 2020 to UAH 10.2 billion in 2021 ) and was recognized as the best international practice. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus personally wrote to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky about this .
In addition, the World Health Organization emphasizes that there is no reason to consider heated tobacco products less harmful and “these products should be taxed at the same rate as regular cigarettes to achieve parity with the average tax rates on regular cigarettes in the country.”
This is also called for by the community of doctors in Ukraine, who addressed the Verkhovna Rada with an open letter about the inadmissibility of creating tax preferences for TWEN and the need to increase the excise rate for TWEN evenly with special database cigarettes and cigarillos in order to protect children and youth from the epidemic of tobacco use.
Creating a tax break for TWEN means acting contrary to WHO recommendations and deliberately abandoning effective practices in favor of heat-cigarette manufacturers, two of which are international sponsors of the war against Ukraine.
In addition, the World Health Organization emphasizes that there is no reason to consider heated tobacco products less harmful and “these products should be taxed at the same rate as regular cigarettes to achieve parity with the average tax rates on regular cigarettes in the country.”
This is also called for by the community of doctors in Ukraine, who addressed the Verkhovna Rada with an open letter about the inadmissibility of creating tax preferences for TWEN and the need to increase the excise rate for TWEN evenly with special database cigarettes and cigarillos in order to protect children and youth from the epidemic of tobacco use.
Creating a tax break for TWEN means acting contrary to WHO recommendations and deliberately abandoning effective practices in favor of heat-cigarette manufacturers, two of which are international sponsors of the war against Ukraine.