Authorities and business discussed the risks of licensing tobacco trade

The participants of the business forum "Days of Retail in Siberia" discussed the risks and nuances associated with mandatory licensing of retail trade in tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Experts urged entrepreneurs to apply for documents in advance in order to avoid a stir at the end of the campaign, which is scheduled to end by March 1, 2027.

Mandatory retail licensing started in Russia on October 1, 2026. After the end of the transition period, work without permits will be prohibited. For violation of these norms, not only administrative, but also criminal liability is provided.

Industry representatives fear that the tight deadlines will create an excessive burden on relevant departments. According to manufacturers' estimates, licensing authorities will have to process applications from about 250,000 retail outlets.

"Short deadlines are a big challenge for retail [...]. At the same time, a significant part of sellers lack similar experience, and many will be submitted at the last moment, resulting in a bottleneck," said Andrey Akhmetzyanov, JTI Russia Government Relations Manager.

Regional authorities are responsible for issuing licenses to retail outlets. Vladimir Putiy, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Omsk Region, confirmed the readiness of the departments to work, noting the need to quickly configure government systems and form a staff to process requests.

Natalia Gerasimova, acting head of the Interregional Directorate of Rosalkogoltakcontrol for the Siberian Federal District, also stressed that her department is ready to help sellers prepare for new requirements and deal with emerging issues.

The discussion of new control measures is taking place against the background of a difficult market situation. According to the ANO "National Scientific Competence Center in the field of combating Illicit Trafficking in Industrial products" (NSCC) for the second quarter of 2026, the share of illegal tobacco trafficking in Russia increased to 10.3% against 9.1% at the end of 2025. In the Siberian Federal District, the figures are even higher: in the Novosibirsk region, the share of the shadow market was 15.3%, in the Altai Territory — 13.9%, in the Omsk Region — 13.8%.

According to experts, the annual losses of the federal budget from illicit tobacco trafficking exceed 113 billion rubles. In the first half of 2026 alone, the treasury lost more than 45 billion rubles.

In addition to licensing, to combat counterfeiting, the state has used a mechanism for the extrajudicial blocking of Internet resources. Since September 1, Rosalokoltabakcontrol has checked about a thousand sites, and as a result of the inspections, more than 670 sites have been closed.

According to the authorities, a double blow to the illegal turnover of tobacco products in the form of licensing and extrajudicial blockages should reduce the share of the illegal market and provide additional revenue to the budget.

"Now we plan that licensing nicotine—containing products in wholesale and retail will give us additional revenues of about 50 billion rubles," said Alexey Sazanov, Deputy Finance Minister of Russia. — We are planning this money in 2027. Accordingly, according to our estimates, the share of shadow turnover should be about 6-7%, that is, there should be a drop of one and a half to two times if everything works as planned."