Starting November 20, customs inspection receives strict deadlines in minutes and hours, and related documentation goes electronic. If customs schedules an inspection of your cargo, the notification and report will arrive via an information operator or personal account, and this channel should be configured in advance. In the same week, it was reported that trucking from the Port of St. Petersburg has surged by more than 40% over two months, grain exports via the Baltic increased 8.7 times in October, and Pogranichny is operating near maximum capacity.
From November 20, customs inspection gets minute-by-minute deadlines
Ministry of Finance Order No. 51n of April 21, 2026, published on May 23, takes effect on November 20. It breaks down the inspection process step by step. The customs authority generates a notification that cargo needs to be inspected in the Unified Automated Information System of Customs Authorities (EAIS TO) no later than 30 minutes after identifying the need. The decision to assign an inspection is made no later than 30 minutes after the notification, and the assignment is issued to the inspector within 50 minutes. During customs declaration, the inspection and report must be completed no later than 2 hours before the release deadline expires, or 4 hours if the deadline was extended. Cargo in temporary storage is inspected within no more than 1 business day from the start of inspection, or up to 5 business days in case of extension.
Inspection documents are transmitted electronically via an authorized software operator or the customs personal account. If there are no infractions and an inspection report is not required, a notation is made in EAIS TO. If the report is not signed within 3 hours, this is noted in the report itself, and it cannot be altered once the inspection concludes. Therefore, whoever manages your shipment must be available throughout the inspection day. Before November 20, check with your customs broker whether their electronic data interchange with customs for inspections is set up.
Deadlines now exist for inspections, but both external visual checks and physical inspections still consume time, and most often they can be avoided through advance preparation. For a power tool distributor, two weeks before dispatch, we obtained a trademark consent letter from the rights holder, classified the goods under proper FEA HS codes for each tool type, and verified marking against documentation. An empty container was dispatched to the plant in Ningbo only after that. In Vladivostok, the container was cleared in a single business day without physical inspection or value adjustment.
Who is not affected by this week's news
The new inspection procedure affects everyone declaring goods in Russia across all ports and border crossings. The rate hike for trucking from St. Petersburg does not affect those shipping by sea to Vladivostok or by rail via Zabaikalsk. The closure of river crossings directly impacts those who shipped via Amurzet and Pokrovka, while the closure of Upper Lars affects only cargo to Georgia and Armenia. New duties on spirits and crumb rubber do not apply to Chinese goods, as China is not classified as an unfriendly country.
Trucking from the Port of St. Petersburg has surged by over 40%
Container drayage from St. Petersburg has increased in price by more than 40% on average over two months, reports the newspaper Delovoy Peterburg. According to PEK estimates, the rate for a 20-foot container to Rostov-on-Don rose by over 40% from August to October, reaching nearly 100 RUB/km, and to Krasnodar by 41%, to 94.6 RUB/km. In early August, trucks for loading at the port were provided on the same day; now sourcing one takes 2–4 days. Surcharges for hauling from the remote Moby Dik and Bronka terminals have also risen.
Ksenia Sitnova, General Director of Elmi Logistics, attributes the surge in demand to cargo being rerouted to St. Petersburg due to operational constraints at Novorossiysk Port. At a rate of around 100 RUB/km, every thousand kilometers adds nearly 100,000 RUB per container. If your cargo arrives in St. Petersburg and your warehouse is in the South, factor in expensive trucking and 2–4 days for vehicle sourcing. We recommend comparing ports based on the total cost to the warehouse rather than the freight rate alone.
Grain shifted from the South to the Baltic, competing with imports for railcars
According to Russian Grain Union data reported by Interfax, 2.3 million tons of grain were shipped through ports in October, compared to around 7 million tons a year earlier. Only 21 ports operated instead of 43. The Azov-Black Sea basin shipped 130,500 tons compared to 5.376 million tons, with its share dropping from 71.6% to 5.5%; Novorossiysk shipped 82,600 tons. The Baltic shipped 1.561 million tons—8.7 times more—growing its share to 65.3%. The largest volumes were handled by Ust-Luga (684,000 tons) and St. Petersburg (471,000 tons), with Astrakhan shipping 396,000 tons and Vysotsk 368,000 tons.
In October, about 3,200 railcars were en route to Vysotsk against a standard capacity of around 1,000.
For imports in the Northwest, this means containers are competing with grain for railcars, port access tracks, and trucks. If you are planning a shipment via St. Petersburg for November, allow extra lead time for port pickup.
Zabaikalsk increases traffic, Pogranichny operates near capacity
The FCS reported that the Zabaikalsk rail border crossing processed 18.9 million tons of cargo (+3.6%), 14,300 trains (+12%), and 283,400 containers (+25.8%) since the start of 2026. Transit declarations reached 115,000, up 38%. The road border crossing processed 2.8 million tons (+28%) in 10 months, handling up to 1,060 trucks per day, and around 1,170 on peak days. On November 3, outbound traffic to China was slowed by repairs on the Chinese side, while inbound entries into Russia remained at 500–600 trucks per day.
The road crossing has been undergoing reconstruction since April 2026; after the first stage, its throughput capacity will reach 2,400 vehicles per day. More than 326,000 trucks have used the electronic queue since September 2023. A law ratifying the agreement with China on a second 1435 mm standard gauge track on the Zabaikalsk–Manzhouli section has been signed, with plans to expand crossing capacity to 39 million tons per year by 2030.
Between June 29 and October 31, 50,300 vehicles (+12%) and 629,000 tons of cargo (+9%) passed through the upgraded Pogranichny checkpoint in Primorye. On peak days, it handled 496 trucks per day against a design capacity of 500. Pogranichny will become one of five pilot sites in the Far East testing 10-minute truck customs inspections. We advise factoring in safety margins for transit times at both border crossings through the end of the year, particularly for road freight.
Mondy checkpoint closed on November 10 and 26, Amurzet and Pokrovka closed until winter
According to the FCS and Rosgranstroy, the Mondy and Verkhny Ulkhun road border crossings were closed on November 4 and are closed on November 10 and 26. The Mondy checkpoint is located on the border with Mongolia and is closed on these two days due to Mongolian national holidays. Olochi, Pokrovka, and Nizhneleninskoye were also closed on November 4. The Amurzet river crossing suspended operations from November 4 until the winter navigation season, and navigation at Pokrovka ended on November 7. Since the beginning of the year, 49,600 tons and 4,550 trucks have passed through Pokrovka, with cargo turnover increasing by 71%.
If your shipment runs through Mongolia in late November, treat November 10 and 26 as non-working days. Until the ice sets, freight from Amur river crossings is redirected to overland checkpoints, which are already heavily congested.
Upper Lars closed for outbound trucks until further notice
On November 8, the FCS announced that heavy trucks are prohibited from exiting Russia on the Vladikavkaz–Lars section until further notice. The cause is adverse weather in Georgia; the restriction was implemented upon recommendation of the Georgian border police. Trucks will be permitted once weather conditions stabilize. On November 5, 600 heavy trucks were in the outbound electronic queue with another 408 in parking lots.
If you are shipping goods to Georgia or Armenia via Lars, no one can guarantee delivery times right now. We advise against promising delivery dates to buyers until the checkpoint reopens.
Kazakhstan bans gasoline and diesel exports starting November 22
By order of October 30, the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan banned the export of gasoline and diesel fuel from November 22, 2026 to May 22, 2027, including to EAEU countries. Exceptions are made for fuel in factory-installed tanks no more than once per day, aviation fuel for research and testing, and humanitarian supplies. From January 1 to June 30, 2027, exports of light distillates, aviation kerosene, diesel fuel, gas oils, toluene, xylene, and bitumen outside the EAEU will be banned. From November 15, the Aktobe–Kandyagash section of the A-27 highway becomes a toll road for trucks and buses (km 11–100).
If your truck from China travels through Kazakhstan, it can only carry fuel out in factory tanks no more than once per day. Ask your carrier to recalculate the route taking into account refueling and the toll section near Aktobe.
A paper waybill does not inherently disqualify you from VAT deductions
Deputy Head of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) Dmitry Satin stated in a letter dated November 3 No. SD-36-3/9573@ that paper shipping documentation does not in itself constitute grounds for denying a client profit tax expenses and VAT deductions. The position was coordinated with the Ministry of Finance. Electronic shipping documents (ETD) become mandatory from September 1, 2026, but if some of your shipments are still paper-based, deductions will not be denied because of this.
Carriers are requesting stricter enforcement. The AutoGruzEx Association, headed by Vadim Filatov, proposed an amendment to Article 270 of the Tax Code in an October 26 letter to Anton Siluanov. From January 1, 2028, transportation expenses would only be recognized if the contractor complies with EDI and GIS EPD requirements. A bona fide customer who verified the contractor via the official service and saved a screenshot would not be denied expense deductions, nor would they be penalized in the event of a GIS EPD or EDI operator outage. This is currently a proposal, not law. Nevertheless, we advise transitioning contractors to electronic waybills: the FTS letter mitigates the immediate risk, but the obligation to implement electronic documents remains.
Duty on spirits from unfriendly countries increased to 35%
Under Government Decree No. 1441 of October 31, import duties on whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, liqueurs, and undenatured ethyl alcohol from unfriendly countries were raised to 35%, but not less than 5 euros per liter. The rate is valid through December 31, 2027, up from 20% and not less than 3 euros per liter. According to the explanatory note to the draft budget, the increase will generate about 10 billion rubles. Decree No. 1445 of the same date introduced 35% duties on crumb rubber from used tires and 25% on isopropylbenzene hydroperoxide from unfriendly countries, except Hungary and Slovakia, also through December 31, 2027.
If you import these goods from the EU or the UK, contracts will have to be recalculated. The duty is determined by the country of origin of the goods, not the transit route. We do not route cargo through front companies in other EAEU countries, as we discussed in our white logistics vs. cargo delivery breakdown. A customs representative shares joint and several liability with the declarant before customs, and we do not assume such risks merely to save on duties.
Export duty reimbursed by the buyer is included in customs value
The FCS clarified the rules for determining the customs value of exported goods approved by Government Decree No. 1694 of December 16, 2019. Export duties are not listed among additional additions under Clause 20 of the Rules. However, if the buyer reimburses the seller for export sales expenses, including paid export duties, these amounts are considered part of the transaction value and are included in the customs value under Clause 19. The FCS cited Ministry of Finance letter No. 03-10-11/38926 of July 4, 2016.
If you export goods and the contract provides for buyer reimbursement of duties, include this amount in the customs value from the outset. Otherwise, customs will adjust the value.
Winter and spring fertilizer export quota reduced to 18.9 million tons
Under Decree No. 1457 of November 5, the Government set the export quota for mineral fertilizers outside the EAEU from December 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027 at 18,897,098 tons. This includes 8,997,248 tons of nitrogen fertilizers, 2,359,123 tons of ammonium nitrate, and 7,540,727 tons of complex fertilizers. The current quota for June 1 – November 30, 2026 is 20 million tons. Transit, deliveries to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and humanitarian aid are exempt from quotas. The Ministry of Agriculture will allocate volumes by November 20, and licenses are issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. If you are a fertilizer exporter, your share will be known after November 20.
Special regime for foreign aircraft may be extended through late 2028
The Ministry of Transport prepared draft amendments to Decree No. 412 of March 2022. The regime allowing airlines to retain aircraft and engines without returning them to foreign lessors and maintain them under Russian regulations is being extended for two years, through the end of 2028. It is currently in force until the end of 2026, with public comments accepted until November 17. If you ship urgent cargo by air, freight capacity of the foreign fleet will remain available in 2027–2028 under the draft.
Rasht–Astara and Greatport terminal near Minsk
In Tehran, the Russian company Caspian Services and the Iranian CDTIC signed a protocol on land access along the entire Rasht–Astara route, announced Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Nikitin. The land plots are required for advance surveys. The 162 km line includes 8 stations, 56 viaducts, 73 bridges, and 30 overpasses; timelines and costs have not been disclosed. Direct through-rail service to Iran will not be available in the coming years, and cargo on the western branch of the North–South corridor will continue to be transshipped onto trucks.
On November 6, the Greatport multimodal rail terminal opened at the Great Stone Industrial Park near Minsk, with a capacity of 180,000 TEU per year and scalable up to 500,000 TEU. It covers 41 hectares with four 1,050-meter tracks. Shareholders include Beltamozhservice, Belintertrans, and China's China Merchants Group and Sinotrans. A major dry port is emerging on the China–Europe route via Belarus, but it does not yet alter your routing from China to Russia.
Checklist before shipping in late November
Most urgent is electronic data interchange for inspections, required starting November 20. Most expensive is trucking from St. Petersburg, which surged by over 40%. A buffer on lead time is needed at Zabaikalsk and Pogranichny, and bypass transit through Mongolia on November 10 and 26. Trucks bound for Georgia and Armenia are awaiting the reopening of Lars, and no one can provide an arrival date right now.
Send us your proforma invoice and FEA HS codes before placing orders with your supplier. We will calculate customs duty, VAT, and delivery to your warehouse for your consignment and advise on the best port and border crossing for year-end shipments.