Nearly a year after Kazakhstan implemented a vape ban, the country’s vape market is still booming – just underground. Nevertheless, other Central Asian countries have followed Kazakhstan’s lead, cracking down on legitimate enterprises and pushing their markets underground.
On June 20, 2024, Kazakhstan began to enforce a law criminalizing the import, production, sale and distribution of vapes. Those who are found selling vapes will face huge fines or arrests. Importers or manufacturers of vapes face more severe penalties, with offenders sentenced to up to two years in prison.
Despite strong opposition from the business community and tobacco harm reduction advocates, who argued that these restrictive measures would not only fail to protect consumers but also push the market into unregulated areas, thereby exacerbating the situation, this ban was still implemented.
A market survey conducted by Rafael Gasanov, a member of the Public Council of Almaty, in late 2024 indicates that these concerns have come true. The vape ban in Kazakhstan has not only failed to curb the market, but has instead contributed to the growth of illegal trade.
Gasanov said in a statement on social media:
- “Monitoring shows that the ban on the circulation of vapes has not only failed to affect the market, but has instead promoted the development of underground businesses. At the same time, it fails to solve the problem of Kazakhs (including teenagers) using vapes.”
Underground Empire
Almost immediately after the ban came into effect, reports of illegal sales of vapes emerged. In their research, Gasanov and his colleagues identified 271 independent sellers who were still operating after the ban. In the largest cities, the competition among these illegal sellers is the fiercest. Almaty has discovered 133 underground online stores, while Astana has 114.
Critics say that this ban has also led to other unexpected consequences. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of smokers in Kazakhstan increased by 1.3% in 2024, reaching 20.7% of the total population.
Not everyone thinks this measure is a failure. Jamilia Sadykova, the leader of a well-known anti-smoking organization in Kazakhstan, said that the vape ban has achieved the expected effect. She said that when young volunteers tested whether tobacco stores were willing to sell vapes, they were usually refused.
Sadykova said that shopkeepers often responded, “There is a ban. We don’t want to go to prison.”
Gasano disagreed with this. “Ms. Sadikova has been assuring everyone on her social media page that vapes have disappeared from the market,” he said. Gasano pointed out that a casual search on Google for “vapes from Almaty” would immediately yield 15 sales of information.
Remarkable achievements
One undeniable impact of the vape ban is the cessation of domestic vape production. Almost all the vapes found in the investigation were imported from China. The price of vapes has also risen sharply. Before the ban, the average retail price was 2,000 tenge (about 3.92 US dollars). Nowadays, the price of vapes on the black market is as high as 15,000 tenge – Sadikova said that this price is unaffordable for underage buyers.
The nature of the transaction has also undergone significant changes. According to Gasanov, online sellers now operate in a way similar to drug dealers, avoiding direct contact with customers. Orders are usually delivered to the door by the Courier and placed in the package at the door or the agreed pick-up point.
To further crack down on illegal sellers, Kazakh lawmakers plan to ban the storage of vapes. Nurgul Tao, a member of the parliament of Kazakhstan, said that this move was aimed at plugging a loophole that allowed underground trade to thrive.
Tao told Kursiv, “Currently, the law has penalty provisions for imports, production, distribution and advertising, but there is no concept of ‘storage’ in the legal text, so there are flaws in the law.” She added that if illegal sellers are found to have hundreds of vapes, they can currently evade responsibility by claiming that these products are for personal use.
Follow suit, one after another
Technically speaking, Kazakhstan is not the first Central Asian country to ban vapes. In 2023, Turkmenistan banned the import and sale of vapes. However, Turkmenistan has long been an oddity in the region. Cigarettes are often in short supply and extremely expensive, which has led to the rise of personal and even homemade cigarette sales.
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan’s closest cultural and economic ally, banned vapes on October 23, 2024. Uzbekistan, the largest economy in the region, followed closely on January 20, 2025. In Uzbekistan, critics have also warned that this could lead to unexpected consequences.
“World experience shows that banning vapes will not lead to a decline in their consumption; instead, it will only encourage the emergence of illegal markets. The examples of countries such as Brazil and Turkey clearly illustrate this point,” wrote BAT Uzbekistan on its website. According to data from BAT, illegal consumption has been increasing every year since these countries implemented the ban.
Enterprises also warned that this would have an economic impact. According to the amendment to the Tax Law that came into effect on January 1, 2025, Uzbekistan has raised the consumption tax on vapes by 200% to 2,000 sum (approximately 0.16 US dollars) per milliliter of nicotine-containing liquid, intending to increase revenue. But industry executives have warned that in a country where law enforcement is relatively weak, illegal tobacco products already account for nearly 12% of the market. The new ban could further erode the tax base.
- “Although the company is firm in its stance on preventing people under the age of 21 from accessing tobacco and nicotine products, world experience shows that banning legal products often leads to the growth of illegal markets and the uncontrolled spread of inferior products among minors,” said Temur Gadaibayev. CEO of BAT Uzbekistan.
So far, these warnings have not been taken seriously. The Central Asian countries that have already banned vapes seem to have no intention of reconsidering. At present, Tajikistan is the only republic in the region where vapes are still legal. But even there, the authorities have strengthened the restrictions. In July 2024. The country raised fines for smoking and using vapes in public places, including streets, parks and stadiums.
