45 billion in wind

Strangely enough, the country's financial crisis, and 45 billion tenge, literally lying on the ground, no one wants to bend down and pick up!
Coalition "For Kazakhstan, free from tobacco smoke", which unites more than 720 organizations and 42 000 individuals invited to the president in a video. Coalition members urged to increase tobacco excise taxes. Until now, foreign tobacco companies, fully control the production of cigarettes in Kazakhstan, happily off with only a cosmetic increase in taxation.
According to the coalition over the past four years the number of smokers in the country increased from 22.6 to 30 per cent of the total population, mainly due to the emergence of nicotine dependence in children and adolescents. Smokes every eight students.
The main cause of youth smoking - paradoxically low prices on cigarettes that become available sweets and soft drinks. Prices, in turn, are determined sverhlgotnym taxation of tobacco companies - manufacturers of cigarettes give Kazakhstan in the form of excise only 12 tenge per pack of cigarettes. For comparison: in the EU excise tax amounts to 2.02 euros, or 451 tenge per pack, plus 57 percent additional tax on the retail price.
In Russia, the excise tax on tobacco is indexed annually and has already achieved in terms of ruble 96 tenge per pack, that is, an average of 54 percent of its selling price. Domestic taxation of tobacco companies have sharply increased in 2008, which allowed to reallocate the savings for pensions and wages.
We also have even gone to such a highly unpopular measure as the postponement of salary increases to doctors and teachers, but somehow guard tobacco companies. Meanwhile, increased excise taxes to 40 tenge per pack of cigarettes would get up to 45 billion tenge additional tax revenues and solve many social problems.
In 2008, the increase in tobacco excise taxes have already been on the agenda in the Senate of the Parliament, and only one vote "against" - 19 to 18 - allowed the manufacturers of cigarettes got off lightly. Now, with the spread of tobacco consumption in Kazakhstan has reached epidemic proportions, adequate taxation of tobacco companies - is "what the doctor ordered."
Two in one - save her from the smoky plague children and save the social costs of the country. When this is done, if not now?