Tobacco advertising regulations in Hungary became stricter as of March 1, meeting EU demands. Advertisements can now only be displayed at sales points, and brand names can only be promoted with health warnings.

Meeting the new requirements is essentially the retailers' responsibility, but, as producers make the promotion materials, they can also check sales points, British American Tobacco marketing director Dániel Buzási said.

Producers have made efforts to push the most popular product category from the super-cheap category towards higher end products. The new regulation and the expected VAT and excise tax hikes make the continuation of this effort almost impossible, thus the market could fall back to the super-cheap products, Buzási warned.

The black market currently makes up 6-7% of the total industry, down from 25% some years ago, but this level could rise again, Napi Gazdaság adds.