145In December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted, and in March 2025 the President signed (with a delay of more than three months), Law No. 4115-IX “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine Regarding the Revision of Excise Tax Rates on Tobacco Products.” The law introduced a plan to increase tobacco excise taxes through 2028: in particular, to €90 per 1,000 cigarettes and to €72 for heated tobacco products (HTPs), thereby creating a 25% excise tax preference for HTPs compared to cigarettes.
Thus, despite numerous statements and compelling arguments from civil society, the Government and Parliament of Ukraine – under pressure from the tobacco industry – adopted a weak excise increase plan and abandoned the effective practice of harmonised taxation of cigarettes and HTPs in favour of tobacco companies, two of which are international sponsors of the war.
According to estimates by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, the introduction of an excise tax privilege for HTPs will result in 22,500 additional deaths in Ukraine from tobacco-related diseases by 2026.
Calculations by experts from the Advocacy Center “Life” show that the 25% excise preference for HTPs will lead to up to UAH 3 billion in lost state budget revenues in 2025, and up to UAH 20 billion by 2028.
A publication on the updated Tobacco Tactics platform details the tactics used by tobacco companies during the adoption of the bill – from interference in its drafting by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine to the involvement of discredited representatives of the medical community to promote the “harm reduction” narrative.
We recall that actions taken in the interests of the tobacco industry violate Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Measures to Prevent and Reduce the Use of Tobacco Products and Their Harmful Impact on Public Health,” as well as Ukraine’s international obligations under the ratified WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC stipulates: “In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.”
Tobacco Tactics is a project of the Advocacy Center “Life”, an information-focused resource on the strategies and tactics used by the tobacco industry to influence public health policymaking in Ukraine, particularly in the field of tobacco control.
Contact person:
Olha Masna, Media Coordinator, Advocacy Center “Life”
+380 73 089 65 70
olha.masna@center-life.org