Buying

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In this page: Customs Procedures | Industrial and Manufacturing Profile | Identifying a Supplier | Controlling the Quality of the Products | Organizing Goods Transport To and From Russia

 

Customs Procedures

Export Clearance
Any taxpayer of Russia who has a registered trade can engage in import and export of commercial goods in Russia. In Russia, license is required for export of certain goods. These licenses are generally issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Federal Customs Service is the official Russian customs office, which deals with collecting duties, inspect and regulating the flow of hazardous items, into and out of the country, control of foreign trade. At Customs, they ask for the export agreement, the invoice, the passport of the transaction as well as Customs fees (0.15% minimum). To obtain a refund of VAT, the exporter must provide the Federal Tax Service with supporting documents (dossier, invoices, proof of passage at the border and of payment of taxes). Examining the dossier and refunding the VAT takes 3 months. Because the system was often abused in the past, the fiscal authorities are very strict.
Necessary Declaration
You have to give the Seller's name, the Buyer's name, the tariff line concerned (in the Harmonized System) as well as the Customs value. Note that the seller must obligatorily be a Russian legal entity, so subsidiaries or representative offices must go through Russian intermediaries.
Restrictions
Exporting mineral ores and semi-precious stones, perishable goods, liqueur, caviar and arms is prohibited.
Exporting precious stones and metals, as well as cultural and artistic goods must have a special authorization.

Export Taxes
Russia has recently increased export taxes and the area they cover.
Now they cover 154 lines of the Harmonized System, with rates which may reach 50%. They mainly concern energy products, ferrous and non-ferrous mineral ores, skins and wood.

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Industrial and Manufacturing Profile

Industry represents 32.2% of the GDP and 26.6% of all employment. However, this trend is declining.

Traditionally the most developed sectors are heavy industry (metallurgy and chemicals) as well as the automobile industry and aeronautics.

Sector-specific professional associations

54 professional associations listed for Russia.

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Type of Manufacturers

Original Equipment Manufacturers
They are especially developed in the sectors of the automobile industry, IT and industrial plant (in particular machines for extracting raw materials) in the form of joint-ventures.
These are generally capital-intensive sectors with a non-negligible technological component, for which domestic demand is strong.
Original Design Manufacturers
ODMs are less widespread.
They are concentrated in the electronics and microelectronics sectors, where salaries are relatively low in relation to the level of qualification.
They are mostly Russian companies.
Subcontractors
This activity is often linked to the country's natural resources: metal parts, plastics and resins but also electronic components. It is particularly concentrated in the technological fields of excellence which are aeronautics, aerospace and nuclear energy.
For further information, consult a website listing sub-contractors.
Useful Resources
A.T. Kearney - Global Management Consultants

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Identifying a Supplier

Russian multisector Business directories

All.biz - Russia - Directory of companies in Russia

Ambercity.ru - Directory of businesses in Kaliningrad

Colist - Russian business directory

Expat.com - Russian business directory

InfoDriveIndia - Importers and exporters directories.

Openrussia - Partners search system

Russia Business Database - Russian business directory

Russian Yellow Pages - Russia's business directory

Russian Marketplaces

Sample of marketplaces incorporated in Russia (A to Z)

Ozon

Wildberries

 

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Upcoming Trade shows in Russia

March 28th, 2023
Horticulture, forestry, forest - Horticulture - Construction, real estate, architecture and urban planning - Architecture - Land planning, urban planning - Construction, public works - Masonry, carpentry, pipework - Waterproofing, roofing, plumbing, carpentry - Painting, door and window frames, wall and floor coverings - Electrical installations - Heating, air conditioning, ventilation - Sanitary equipment, kitchen, swimming pool - Furnishings, household equipment and arts - Furnishings, household equipment and arts: unspecified - Furnishings - Household equipment - Wood, paper, cardboard - Industrial cooling, thermal processes - Plastics, rubber - Mechanical, precision - Machine tools, agricultural machinery - Hardware, tools, accessories - Professional hardware - Raw materials, materials, metals - Materials - Metallurgy, steel, foundry - Design - Engineering - Home and garden services - Home services - Gardens, parks
March 28th, 2023
Mechanical, precision - Precision, measures, optics, watches
March 28th, 2023
Machine tools, agricultural machinery - Robotics - Hardware, tools, accessories - Professional hardware - Metallurgy, steel, foundry - Outsourcing, hardware equipping - Software
March 28th, 2023
Plastics, rubber - Aeronautics, aero spatial - Aerospace - Space - Automobiles, lorries - Automobile subcontracting, lorries - Naval construction, boating - Raw materials, materials, metals - Materials - Embedded systems - Research, innovation
March 28th, 2023
Mechanical, precision - Precision, measures, optics, watches
April 1st, 2023
Insurance, mutual funds, pension funds - Banks - Investment funds, other financial institutions - Stock Exchange, investments - Financing, aid - Real estate - Wholesale, B2B intermediaries - Retail, distribution - Retail business
April 1st, 2023
Databases - Networks - Embedded systems - Maritime transport, river transport, cruises
April 1st, 2023
Agriculture - Breeding - Food industry - Food industry: unspecified - Alcoholic drinks - Non-alcoholic drinks - Bakery, pastry, confectionery - Cereals, spices, tobacco - Fruits and vegetables - Dry groceries, packaged goods - Dairy products - Fish and seafood - Meat and poultry - Machine tools, agricultural machinery
April 1st, 2023
Viticulture - Food industry - Food industry: unspecified - Alcoholic drinks - Non-alcoholic drinks - Bakery, pastry, confectionery - Cereals, spices, tobacco - Fruits and vegetables - Dry groceries, packaged goods - Dairy products - Fish and seafood - Meat and poultry - Wines, spirits - Products and services for weddings - Hotels, accommodation - Restaurants, home deliveries - Cafes, bars, nightclubs
April 1st, 2023
Food industry - Food industry: unspecified - Alcoholic drinks - Non-alcoholic drinks - Bakery, pastry, confectionery - Cereals, spices, tobacco - Fruits and vegetables - Dry groceries, packaged goods - Dairy products - Fish and seafood - Meat and poultry - Products and services for weddings - Hotels, accommodation - Restaurants, home deliveries - Cafes, bars, nightclubs

To see 625 more, check out our Trade shows database

Controlling the Quality of the Products

Quality Control Organizations
Rostest (in Russian)
 GOST Standard SRL

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Organizing Goods Transport To and From Russia

Main Useful Means of Transport
Even if the trains need modernising, the rail network is the most used means of goods transport. In 2019, Russia's transport volume in the rail freight sector amounted to approximately 2.6 trillion ton-kilometers.

There are no motorways and the infrastructure is inadequate for goods transport (19% of all goods traffic). Nevertheless, projects are underway to open up the country towards the West. Trucking in Russia is a US$4.78 billion industry. In 2019, Russia's transport volume in the road freight sector amounted to approximately 264 billion ton-kilometers.

Russia has 41 large ports of which only 11 are equipped with infrastructures for import-export; the biggest one is in St Petersburg (42 million tons). The country is open to the sea on three sides: the Baltic sea, the Black sea and the Pacific Ocean. According to data of the Russian Association of Commercial Seaports, first semester of 2018 container cargo volume was 2.95 million TEU, up 11.5 percent from the same period in 2017. At Far East seaports, the growth rate increased 13.5 percent from the same period last year.
 
 

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By Road

Transport Professionals
International road transporters association
Government Transport Organisations
Federal Road Transport Agency (RosAvtoDor)

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By Rail

Transport Professionals
Russian Railways
 Rail Service
Government Transport Organisations
Federal Rail Transport Agency (RosZhelDor)

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Latest Update: March 2023