Lukashenko’s cigarette empire crosses borders | Eastern Express

Belarusian cigarettes have flooded European black markets for years, but the trade begins with decisions made at the highest levels of the Belarusian government. In this episode, host Benjamin Lee and his guest, Alina Koushyk, Editor-in-Chief of TVP World's sister station Belsat TV, examine how Alexander Lukashenko handed sweeping tobacco privileges to a favored businessman and helped establish a monopoly around production, distribution, and imports. The enormous surplus of cheap cigarettes created ideal conditions for organized smuggling into the European Union. The same patronage system rewards loyal businessmen while providing money, assets, and support to the institutions protecting the regime. Eastern Express follows the smoke back to Minsk and asks why an authoritarian state with total control over its economy and borders keeps benefiting from contraband. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:07 - How Belarus's economy works 01:03 - Belarus's tobacco industry 01:22 - How business and politics intertwine 03:09 - Weather balloons as a smuggling tool 04:58 - How the state controls cigarette smuggling 09:05 - What does Lukashenko know about the black market? 11:32 - How can the EU prevent cigarette smuggling? 14:54 - The consequences of using weather balloons 17:08 - Cigarette smuggling: profits and losses 19:35 - Eastern News Flash 🔴 Watch our 24/7 livestream - https://youtube.com/live/9RY46AUtIl4 Bringing you all the latest daily news and updates, TVP World is Poland's first English-language channel where you can find world news as seen from the Polish perspective and the latest news from the CEE region. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. https://tvpworld.com/   / tvpworldcom     / tvpworld_com     / tvp_world   https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world https://bsky.app/profile/tvpworld.bsk...   / tvpworld.com   https://t.me/tvp_world #Belarus #Lukashenko #Europe