Student Brotherhood Demands Excise Increase
March 26, 2008
The majority of Student Brotherhood Student College of Ostroh Academy National University wrote a letter to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko requesting for an increase in the amount of excise duty for tobacco to decrease the demand for this product. Ostroh Academy students believe that such measures should reduce the number of smokers in Ukraine and thus increase state’s budget receipts.
The reason for such a request was the fact that starting form 2007 the prices for tobacco in Ukraine almost did not rise comparing to the other kinds of products, and the smoking rate among the population of Ukraine is extremely high. Ostroh Academy in general and Student Brotherhood as a student self-governing body take an active stand in fight against smoking, especially among youth. It is worth mentioning that two years ago Ostroh Academy announced the permanent project Ostroh Academy Is a Smoking-Free Territory, which already yielded a result of 18 academic groups with zero number of smokers.