More than four million Russians use e-cigarettes - but since the Kremlin opened the door to regional bans, local laws risk disrupting the legal market. Meanwhile, some politicians want to go even further and equate vejpning with drugs. Business owners warn of chaos, while users risk being caught in the middle.
Russia is heading towards a patchwork of regional bans on e-cigarettes. At the same time, an estimated 4.2 million Russians use vejp products and over 32 million people still smoke cigarettes.
Now, business owners and politicians alike are warning that the new rules could create legal chaos, strengthen the black market - and make it harder for smokers to choose less harmful alternatives.
It reports that industry-orientated magazine 2First
- In practice, there is a risk of splitting the country's common market, says the Russian business organisation Opora Russia in a sharp protest to President Vladimir Putin.
Region leads the way with ban
As Vejpkollen previously reported, Russia's parliament has been discussing a total ban on e-cigarettes for the past two years. But instead of a national ban, it seems government now leaning towards a model leaving it to the regions of the country to decide whether to ban sales.
It has already had consequences.
In the Perm Krai region (central Russia), with a population of around 2.5 million on the border between Europe and Asia, the regional parliament has voted to ban not only the sale but also the storage and distribution of vejp products. The law is expected to enter into force on 1 September 2026.
Since 1 March this year, the sale of e-cigarettes is already banned in the region.
Millions of vejpers - but many more smoke
This development comes at a time when cigarette smoking is still very common in the country.
According to the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), there are about 4.2 million 1TP8 users in Russia. This represents about 3.6 per cent of the adult population. At the same time, it is estimated that over 32 million adult Russians still smoke cigarettes.
Russia has a population of around 144 million. Despite a sharp decline in smoking since the 2010s, the country remains one of Europe's largest cigarette markets. The difference between the number of smokers and vejp users is striking. For every Russian who uses e-cigarettes, there are about eight who still smoke.
At the same time, GSTHR figures show that vejpning has already gained a significant foothold in the country. Among young adults, use has historically been significantly higher than in the population as a whole.
Lawyers question legality
The problem is that the Perm Krai seems to have got ahead of the federal legislation. The national bill that would allow regions to impose their own bans has so far only passed its first reading in the State Duma. Alexei Kurinny, vice-chairman of the Duma's health committee, therefore believes that the regional decisions lack a clear legal basis.
- The legislator has not yet delegated this right to the regions," he told the Russian news channel NSN.
According to Mr Kurinny, in the worst case, regional bans can be stopped by prosecutors or overturned in court.
Businesses appeal to Putin
Opposition is not only coming from lawyers. The business organisation Opora Russia has now written directly to Vladimir Putin demanding that the regional bans be stopped. The organisation argues that the process has taken place behind closed doors and that businesses and consumers were only informed when the bill had already passed its first reading in parliament. In its letter, the organisation warns that Russia risks creating a system where legal products are allowed in one region, banned in another and suddenly disappear from the market in a third.
- Such an approach sets a dangerous precedent that could fragment the common economic space, the organisation writes.
From regulation to drug classification
At the same time, parts of the political debate continue to be pushed in a much tougher direction. Dmitry Gusev, deputy speaker of the State Duma, has proposed that e-cigarettes should in principle be treated in the same way as drugs. The reason is frustration that the process of a total ban has dragged on. Mr Gusev argues that tax revenues from the vejp industry are negligible - around 11 billion roubles a year - and that the state therefore has nothing to lose by shutting down the market.
For users, such a development would represent a dramatic shift. Today, offences related to e-cigarettes are mainly dealt with through administrative sanctions, fines and sales regulations. Drug offences, on the other hand, can carry multi-year prison sentences under Russian law.
Harm reduction comes under fire
For consumers of e-cigarettes and other smokeless nicotine products, this development is particularly problematic, as Russia is simultaneously facing the same conflict as many Western countries: how to deal with products that are not risk-free, but are used by millions of people as significantly less harmful alternatives to cigarettes.
The GSTHR notes that around 4.2 million Russians already use e-cigarettes, while over 32 million still smoke. Despite this, the policy debate is increasingly about prohibition rather than harm reduction.
For many users, the development also raises questions about the forces driving the campaigns. In recent years, the Russian anti-nicotine movement has largely coincided with the line taken by pro-Kremlin politicians and officials. At the same time, the arguments have become increasingly far-reaching - from regional sales bans to comparisons between e-cigarettes and drugs.
As a result, millions of Russian vejpers may soon see their ability to buy legal products determined by the region they happen to live in.
