11.1 General Regulations

All goods and means of transport moved through the customs border of the Russian Federation must be declared to the customs authorities of the Russian Federation.

A customs declaration is issued within 15 days of the date the goods are presented to the customs authorities of the Russian Federation.

Current legislation establishes appropriate penalties for violating customs regulations. In particular, for failing to declare goods and means of trans-port in the established procedure, a fine may be exacted equalling from two to five times the amount of the minimum monthly wage amount as stipulated by legislation.

11.2 Customs Duties

When moving goods across the customs border of the Russian Federation, the following customs duties are paid:

• Customs Duties
  

  Import and export duty rates are established as a percentage of the customs value of the goods (ad valorem) or in EURO (specific) per unit of measurement of the goods (kilogram, litre, etc.), and as a combination of those two types of rates.

  As of 1 April 2000, a new Customs Tariff of the Russian Federation entered into force, which is a collection of import customs duties systcmised in accordance willi the nomenclature of goods. According to the Customs Tariff, import customs duties are levied as a percentage of the customs cost of goods and range from 0% to 30%. Alcohol is an exception; the duty is levied at 100%, but no less than 2 EURO, per litre.

  Export customs duties are established for a significantly fewer number of goods than for imported goods. These include mainly oil and oil products. gas, non-ferrous metals and products manufactured with them. Export duty rates are lower on average than import duty rates but may also range from 0% to 30 % of the customs cost. For example, for oil and raw oil prod-ucts, export duty is established at 20° of their customs value.

• Value Added Tax (see section 6.2.4)
• Excises (see section 6.2.5)
• Customs duties for customs clearance

  Customs duties for customs clearance of goods are charged in the currency of the Russian Federation at 0.1%, and in foreign currency, at the exchange rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at 0.05% of the customs cost of goods.

• Customs duties for storing goods

  Customs duty payments for temporary goods storage in warehouses are established on an agreed upon basis.

• Customs duties for customs convoy of goods

  Customs duty payments for customs convoy are established on an agreed upon basis between the State Customs Committee and the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

• Payments for information and consulting services, etc.

  Payments for information and con-sulting services are also established as agreed in individual cases.

Penalties are imposed in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the amount in arrears for each day of delay, beginning the day after the period for making these payments, as established by legisla-tion, expires.

11.3 Customs Regulations for Individuals

Goods that are not intended for use in production or commercial activities may be brought into Russia without duty if their total cost does not exceed 1000 USD and they weigh no more than 50 kg. Russian citizens who have spent more than six months abroad may bring up to 5000 USD worth of goods duty-free into Russia.

Russian currency must be declared in writing if an amount exceeding 500 minimum statutory monthly wages (41,745 roubles as at 1 July 2000) is being imported or exported.

Residents may export foreign currency in an amount equal to 1,500 USD without submitting documents supporting that the currency has been either transferred or imported into the Russian Federation or withdrawn from a currency account or purchased from an authorised bank in the Russian Federation.

When exporting foreign currency in an amount from between 1,500 to 10,000 USD, residents must submit documents to the customs authorities supporting that the difference between the exported amount and 1,500 USD has been either transferred or imported into the Russian Federation or withdrawn from a currency account or purchased from an authorised bank in the Russian Federation.

When exporting foreign currency in an amount equalling more than 10,000 USD (taking into account the I,500 USD), residents must have and present the permission of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in accordance with the established format.

Residents have the right to export foreign currency received to pay for business trip expenses outside the Russian Federation irrespective of the amount and without the permission of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Non-residents have the right to export cash currency in an amount not exceeding the amount they earli-er imported or transferred to the Russian Federation provided that they have supporting documents.

Foreign currency must be declared in writing if it is in excess of 1,500 USD.

11.4 Northwest Customs Department

The management of customs matters in the Northwest region is controlled by the Northwest Customs Depar-tment which comprises part of the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation and manages cus-toms matters on the territory of its jurisdiction. This territory includes:

• St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast;
• Archangelsk Oblast;
• Vologod Oblast;
• The Republic of Karelia;
• The Republic of Komi;
• Murmansk Oblast;
• Novgorod Oblast; and Pskov Oblast.

In St. Petersburg, customs clearance is carried out by the St. Petersburg, Baltic and Pulkovo customs authorities.

Baltic Customs
32 a, Kanonersky Island, St. Petersburg,
191184; tel. 1139945, 1139940

Pulkovo Customs
Pulkovo-2 Airport, St. Petersburg, 196210;
tel: 326 22 28, fax: 326 22 80

St. Petersburg Customs
10,9th Line, Vasilievsky island, St. Petersburg, 199034;
tel.: 213 07 91, fax 213 80 17