21 December 2018 - Starting from 1 January 2019, the excise duties on fine-cut smoking tobacco will increase from 30 to 35 EUR per kilogram, on ethyl alcohol from 1.050 to 1.250 EUR per hectolitre and on carbonated drinks from 20 to 25 EUR per hectolitre, the Ministry of Finance reported. This means the price of these products would increase, but there is still no information on how much.
The Ministry of Finance reminded of the excise tax calendar which entered into force as of August 2018, when the excise tax on the fine-cut smoking tobacco decreased from 54 to 30 EUR per kilogram (this price is valid from 1 September to 31 December 2018).
From 1 January to the end of 2019, the excise tax on fine-cut smoking tobacco will be 35 EUR per kilogram, from 1 January to 31 December 2020 – 40 EUR, in 2021 – 45 EUR, while in 2022 it will amount to 50 EUR per kilogram.
The Ministry also stated that so far it has generated 37.6 million EUR from excise taxes on tobacco product, which is by 26.6% or 13.6 million EUR higher compared to the same period last year.
Nevertheless, the import of fine-cut smoking tobacco in the country has not increased even though many people started using it.
Similarly, excise on coal will increase the selling price of it, from 1,4 to 2,2 EUR per ton. Representatives of the Electric Power Company of Montenegro said that coal price had an impact on the production price of electricity produced in the thermal power plant.
However, Electric Power Company of Montenegro decided last week that they would not change the prices of electricity. New regulation stipulates that the electricity price for distributive consumers be formed by the market price from the reference energy stock in Budapest, with specific limitations. Production of electricity in Montenegro has minimum impact on that stock, and thus minor disturbances, like excise on coal, can not seriously affect the stock in Budapest, which is a referent for electricity prices in Montenegro.
Starting from 1st January, 15 cents excise on coal will be levied. Starting from 1st January of 2020, it will double (30 cents per gigajoule of gross heat value). Representatives of Coal Mine said that they would introduce special season discounts for the households, and they would be higher than the excise. Coal price is one of several parameters which have an impact on electricity price.
“At this moment, we don’t know whether the excise will have an impact on electricity prices”, said the representatives of the Coal Mine.
Excise on coal is related to the calorific value of coal, and it will have an impact on an increase of operating costs of the Coal Mine.
Source: Cafe del Montenegro
