The tobacco market in Ukraine is about monopolies and how the state contributes to their creation. The manufacturer of tobacco products and the buyer shares a chain of firms, intermediaries and wholesalers. Four major tobacco manufacturers operate in Ukraine: British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco. Overall, these companies produce more than 90% of cigarettes in the country. Since 2012, they have been selling their products through Tedis-Ukraine, a company owned by Ukrainian oligarch Boris Kaufman, who has been nicknamed "Yanukovych's wallet," obozrevatel writes. How and when did Tedis appear on the Ukrainian market? The company... [Read more]