Cigarette container in Chornomorsk port

Container MRSU4885915, containing approximately 1,000 cartons of "Compliment" cigarettes produced by the Vinnitsa Tobacco Factory, has been sitting in the "Chornomorsk" port, also known as the "Fish Port", for several days. Notably, the packaging lacks excise stamps, which in itself raises questions.

The shipper is listed as the Lviv-based company "Nationalnyy Vyrobnyk" (National Producer), which has a direct connection to businessman Hryhorii Kozlovskyi. The recipient is indicated as the Syrian firm Muhammad Abdul Karims Abdul Latif Al Amoura. However, a serious discrepancy arises here: under current Syrian legislation, such goods cannot be imported into the country.

Violation of Syrian regulations

According to Syrian rules, all cigarette packaging must contain:

• Information on the content of nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide.
• A clear warning about the dangers of smoking in Arabic, including risks to pregnant women and their unborn children.

As seen in photographs of the container cargo provided by journalists, these requirements are not met. Consequently, formally, the goods could not have been accepted in Syria.

Where were the cigarettes actually headed?

The non-compliance with Syrian requirements suggests that the export was fictitious. In such schemes, products are supposedly sent abroad but actually remain in the country, ending up either on the illegal market through retail outlets and shadow sales channels, or being smuggled illegally into Europe.

This method is known in customs practice as "sinking the goods". On paper, the products are listed as exported, but in reality, they remain in circulation within the country. This allows for the avoidance of excise duties and the legitimisation of the illegal turnover of cigarettes.

How does the scheme work?

Officially exported cigarettes without excise stamps become "invisible" to regulatory authorities. If such batches are found on the Ukrainian or European market, the manufacturer can claim that the goods were sent abroad and that the cigarettes found within the country are counterfeits. As a result, the investigation may turn not against them, but against "unknown" counterfeiters.

Such fictitious export schemes are used not only in the tobacco industry but also in other shadow businesses.