A new path in life for vulnerable communities:
Partnership between ANOFM and BAT Romania
for social and economic development of counties
affected by illicit trade
21 March 2025
Bucharest, March 21st, 2025 – BAT Romania through its Stop Contrabanda platform and the National Agency for the Employment (ANOFM) announced the launch of a partnership – a first in Romania – to support vulnerable communities, seriously affected by the tobacco smuggling. As part of this project, BAT supports the organization at the territorial level by the ANOFM of a series of professional qualification trainings, as a viable professional alternative in counties seriously affected by smuggling. In February 2025, 52 people successfully graduated from the first pilot – series of courses that provide qualification in the professions of solar photovoltaic panel installer and forklift operator in Suceava County.
Suceava and Dolj counties are the first selected for organizing the program in partnership with BAT Stop Contrabanda platform, as these counties register some of the highest levels of cigarette smuggling in recent years. All 52 graduates of the first series held between December and February in Suceava received diplomas accredited by the Ministries of Labor and Education, also recognized at the European Union level, which will contribute to facilitating the insertion of participants into the labor market.
According to the StopContrabanda.ro platform, in 2024 about 12.5 million illicit cigarettes were seized in these 2 counties, worth over 10 million lei on the black market. Cigarette smuggling annually damages the state budget revenues by over 2 billion lei, is a catalyst for organized crime networks and fosters the underdevelopment rate of communities. Interpol data shows that illicit cigarette trafficking is an accelerator for drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking and even terrorist activities.
“The partnership with ANOFM is based on our belief that we can and must contribute actively and efficiently to the sustainable development of communities. With a presence of over 27 years in Romania, BAT supports the authorities’ efforts in their fight against the underground economy and smuggling through equipment donations and annual awareness campaigns, and we are confident that the professional trainings developed in partnership with ANOFM will amplify these efforts, offering viable alternatives in the affected counties, for a better and safer future in these communities. Through strategic investments in professional education and, subsequently, the insertion of participants into the labor market, we believe that we can determine, in the long term, sustainable economic growth in these areas,” said Ileana Dumitru, External Affairs Director of the South Eastern Europe Area in BAT.
ANOFM emphasizes the importance of this partnership in reducing unemployment in economically disadvantaged areas and providing a clear professional direction for people in difficult situations:
"The partnership with BAT is a valuable initiative for ANOFM, providing additional support to people in vulnerable communities through access to vocational training and, implicitly, new employment opportunities. Education and qualification in a new profession are sustainable solutions, offering people in these communities the opportunity to choose a secure professional path and access to legitimate sources of income. We want this project to become a model of good practices and open new perspectives for similar collaborations. Such initiatives complement ANOFM's efforts to support integration into the labor market and to offer professional alternatives for those who want a new start”, said Florin Cotosman, ANOFM president.
The partnership aims to organize qualification courses in relevant fields on the labor market in the targeted regions, providing participants with skills required by employers that will open up prospects for a sustainable and secure integration in the workforce. The first two pilot trainings, organized in partnership with ANOFM Suceava, began in December 2024 and were completed in February 2025. The next series of courses will be organized in Dolj County and aim to qualify at least 50 people in the professions of nurse and data entry, validation and processing operator.
During 2024, nationally, employers reported a total of 8,073 job vacancies for the occupations of solar photovoltaic panel installer, solar thermal system installer, solar system installer, forklift operator, nurse, and data entry, validation and processing operator. Of these, 42,5% were declared repeatedly, due to the difficulty of filling the positions.
In Suceava and Dolj counties, 40.7% of the job vacancies reported by employers for these qualifications were repeatedly declared, indicating a high demand for specialized labor in these occupations. This aspect highlights both the shortage of qualified personnel in these fields and the increased employment opportunities for people who acquire the necessary skills to occupy the positions of solar photovoltaic panel installer and forklift operator, , respectively nurse and data entry, validation and processing operator.
About tobacco illicit trade in Romania:
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Illicit cigarette trafficking costs the Romanian state approximately 2 billion lei annually, which is the equivalent of 500 km of modernized national road*
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Romania has 2,000 km of border with non-EU countries, where the price of tobacco can be up to three times lower.
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Each container of illegal cigarettes means a million euros in profit for smuggling networks. Interpol data shows that illicit cigarette trafficking is a catalyst for drug trafficking, weapons, people and even terrorist activities.
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According to the latest data from Novel Research, the tobacco black market in Romania reached a record negative level in 2024 for the last 4 years: it exceeded the threshold of 9% of total market. For comparison, in 2023 the annual average of smuggling was 8.2%, up by over one percentage point compared to the previous year.
* At an average cost of 4 million lei for one km of modernized national road (according to the Ministry of Transport's annex to the 2021 Budget).
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