Key Point:
1. Russia has been regulating e-cigarettes since 2017, and has gradually tightened its policies through several pieces of legislation, including limits on nicotine concentration, mandatory labeling, and higher taxes. a bill for a total ban on e-cigarettes may be passed in the spring 2025 parliamentary session.
2. nicotine industry organization SPINI, user groups, and some state agencies argue that a ban would drive up black market transactions, increase health risks, and violate the right to economic freedom. To date, the petition against the ban has over 60,000 signatures.
3. Analysis indicates that the ban will cause a large number of small and medium-sized e-cigarette retailers to go out of business, especially small businesses whose profits depend on e-cigarettes. Retailers derive their profits primarily from e-cigarettes rather than traditional cigarettes.
4. the ban may instead favor traditional tobacco giants such as Philip Morris.
[2Firsts from Moscow by Vladimir Vorotnikov]Russian legislators’ multi-year campaign against vapes may soon reach a climax, as Parliament could ban e-cigarettes during its spring session.
The first attempts to regulate vapes emerged in 2017, when a group of lawmakers initiated a bill that would equate electronic cigarettes, smoking mixtures and vapes with tobacco products. The bill was rejected by the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, in the second reading, only to resurface three years later. This time, it was signed into law.
Since then, Russian authorities have been consistently tightening screws on the e-cigarette market.
In 2021, the lawmakers limited the nicotine concentration in a liquid or nicotine solution to 20 mg/ml. A year later, liquids for electronic cigarettes became subject to mandatory labeling.
In 2023, the authorities resorted to fiscal measures, jacking up the excise rate on cigarettes and vapes and setting a minimum price for nicotine-containing products.
Russian legislators are confident that their constituents support even further restrictions on e-cigarette sales. In a January 2025 opinion poll conducted by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, 74 percent of respondents backed the ban, with only 18 percent speaking out against the proposal.
Back Underground
Despite the widespread support among respondents to Chairman Volodin’s poll, not everybody is convinced of the wisdom of banning vapes. According to the Union of Enterprises of the Nicotine-Containing Products Industry (SPINI), the initiative to ban vapes will do more harm than good.
"The complete ban on the production and circulation of nicotine-containing products […] will provoke the growth of the black market. As a result, the risks to the life and health of consumers will increase," SPINI wrote in a letter to the Russian authorities that was quoted by the Russian Gazette, a government publication.
Instead, SPINI proposes a set of measures to make the e-cigarette market “more civilized.” In particular, the organization proposes to strengthen control over trade and toughen penalties for selling nicotine-containing products to teenagers, to prohibit the dissemination of information about their retail sale on the Internet, and to speed up the adoption of a law on state regulation of the industry.
In a statement on its website, SPINI also emphasized that the ban contradicts existing Russian legislation and even the Russian Constitution.
For instance, SPINI stated that the bill violates the principle of freedom of economic activity and infringes on the rights of entrepreneurs. In addition, the organization stressed that the ban violates the principles of a free market and freedom of contract.
Meanwhile, vapers initiated a petition against the proposed ban, which at the time of writing had gathered more than 60,000 signatures. This growing opposition underscores the potential impact of the ban on a significant portion of the population.
"Today, there are at least 5 million e-cigarette consumers in the Russian Federation, and their number continues to grow steadily,” the organizers of the petition wrote. “If [vapes] are banned, many will have to take a "step back" and return to smoking, which will increase the risk of getting terrible diseases, and reduce life expectancy. The rest will continue to buy e-cigarettes of dubious quality on the black market, which will also inevitably affect their health.”
Even some state agencies oppose the idea of banning vapes. For example, Russia’s legal information agency RAPSI echoes fears that prohibition will boost the black market.
"This is exactly what will happen: the black market, which currently accounts for 68 percent of the total nicotine-containing market, will grow," SPINI board member Vladimir Mishalovin was quoted as saying by RAPSI. Neither bans nor harsh measures, especially those related to price increases, have ever led to an effective solution to the problem."
Given the absence of regulatory oversight or quality control in the illicit market, a ban will bring only new threats to human health, according to the proposal’s critics.
Mass Bankruptcies
If the vape ban becomes law, it will also have a significant economic impact. Local analysts fear that the measure could force many tobacco retailers out of business, adding a layer of complexity to the debate.
"The economic consequences of this bill also raise serious concerns. The ban could lead to mass bankruptcies of small and medium-sized businesses that specialize in selling vapes and accessories. Such enterprises, often operating at the threshold of profitability, are unlikely to be able to adapt to the sudden disappearance of the main product," Anna Anisimova, economist and director of the KupetsCRM service, told state-owned news outlet RT.
Over the past three years, the vape retail sector has boomed in Russia. According to the 2GIS mapping service, the number of retailers selling e-cigarettes has been rapidly rising in every big Russian city. Currently, more stores in Russia are selling vapes than conventional tobacco production, though many retailers sell both product categories.
Market players argue that the ban on vapes could disproportionately benefit international tobacco companies.
"Such bills are very good for traditional tobacco manufacturers,” Artem Lazuka, founder of the Bazooka Store tobacco store chain told RusBase. “Retailers make almost no money on cigarettes. Their margin is 6 percent, and on vapes—40 percent. Selling an e-cigarette for RUB1,000 is like selling cigarettes for RUB5,000. This is much more profitable for small businesses, and they choose vapes. They say that […] Philip Morris will earn billions in the first year after the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes."
Lazuka cites the example of neighboring Kazakhstan, which banned vapes in April 2024. A large number of that country’s vape stores have closed, he observed. Others have started selling illegally through the Telegram social media platform or under the counter. Companies confronted with a vape ban, Lazuka, noted, face a stark choice: either go bankrupt or join the illicit market.
