Nikolai Gerasimenko, an academic with the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, said that Russia also leads the world in terms of underage smoking, and that it is the third-largest producer of tobacco products after China and the U.S.
More than half of Russian teenagers smoke, he said, with boys outnumbering girls 60% to 40%. He said the low cost of cigarettes in Russia was a major contributing factor to the trend.
Tobacco production in Russia has doubled over the past 10 years, to 413 billion in 2006 from 206 billion in 1996, Gerasimenko said, adding that Russia's exceptionally high mortality rate could be attributed to the higher levels of tar and nicotine - 30-40% more - in Russian cigarettes compared with other world brands.
He also lamented the ineffectiveness of anti-smoking legislation passed in 2001, adding that Russia remains the only major country in the world not to have signed on to the World Health Organization's (WHO) anti-smoking convention.
"The convention places serious limits on tobacco producers and their profits," Gerasimenko said, "whereas Russia has created the most conducive environment possible for tobacco companies." No other country in the world taxes cigarettes at such a low rate, he said.
One hundred seventy-two countries have signed the convention, he said, whereas those that have not include Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Russia and several others.
