There are reportedly plans to expand tobacco cultivation in Ukraine. Production and Trade Ukraine is very dependent on imports of unmanufactured tobacco although it has a large manufacturing capacity. This represents a decrease in production from the 1988 level of 81,000 million cigarettes, reportedly due to supply shortages. Around 15,800 million cigarette were imported each year from 1990-92, an increase from 1988, when imports totalled about 11,000 million. In the early 1990s, it was reported that smoking prevalence in the Ukraine decreased with increasing levels of education and higher socio-economic status.
Smoking is believed to start at a very early age in Ukraine.
In the mid 1990s, a national programme to control smoking had not yet been adopted in Ukraine. The Ministry of Health had great difficulty financing targeted measures because of the serious economic situation in Ukraine. The Ministry of Health has appealed to the State television and radio company to stop advertising tobacco products. However, tobacco advertisements appear frequently on television, especially on foreign and commercial channels. The National Centre for Health Education is actively involved in tobacco control in Ukraine.