A source in the State Tax Inspectorate told 
that major tobacco companies are reducing the purchase of excise stamps for heated tobacco products (HTPs).
"Indeed, purchases dropped sharply by the end of the year. Philip Morris, for example, practically stopped it. In November-December they will not buy anything at all," the source explained.
The main reason for the decrease in purchasing excise stamps for HTPs is the market stagnation that began after the increase in excise duty rates, expert Borys Kushniruk says.
"The Verkhovna Rada has decided to increase rates, hoping to collect more taxes. As usual, everything did not go according to the planned scenario—the legal market began to decline, and as a result the state only lost in taxes, compared to what it had received before," the expert said.
The biggest decline, according to him, is expected next year.
Earlier, Philip Morris predicted a decline in the legal market of the heated tobacco products by 3.1 times compared to last year—to 1.5 billion pieces due to an increase in the excise tax on these products from January 2021 by 320%.
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