MOSCOW, August 16./TASS/. The share of major tobacco producers dropped by 2.5 percentage points on the Russian market in the first half of 2023 against the end of the last year, the national research center of competencies against illegal turnover of industrial products said in its research seen by TASS.

The Center completed the fourth research of the national tobacco products market during the second and the third quarters of 2023. The research took place in 85 regions and covered territories with the area of 87 mln people.

"According to results of the survey, the market share of products of the top four (country’s largest) manufacturers dropped by 2.5 percentage points. It stood at 83.3%," the center said. The share contracted against the indicator according to results of the previous survey staged in October - November 2022.

The share of products not related to top four companies amounted to 16.7% against 14.2% in the previous research. The share of counterfeit products totaled 3.2%. "The decline in the share of illegal turnover of such products by 8% was also registered," the center added.

"The overall share of the illegal turnover of tobacco products across the country stands at 13.3% in terms of the total number of smokers in the country," the center informed.