János Lázár, the Fidesz caucus leader at the time, said earlier this year that he hoped the bill could be passed in the autumn and enter into force from January 1, 2013.

The bill would make tobacco trading a state monopoly in Hungary, stipulating one tobacco retail kiosk for every 2,000 inhabitants, reducing the number of sales points from 43,000 to 5,000-6,000.

British American Tobacco and Philip Morris currently control about two-thirds of Hungary’s tobacco retail trade, paying fees to retailers to display their advertisements but leaving only a small margin on sales.

This could change radically, as the new regulation would ban this practice, Népszabadság writes.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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