Russian Post Faces Parcel Processing Delays Amid Surge in Shipments and Insufficient Funds

The delay in processing incoming parcels from abroad by Russian Post is due to a sharp increase in their quantity, with insufficient funds in the company’s advance account to pay customs duties, the postal operator’s press service told RBC. Earlier, delays in shipments were reported by the Federal Customs Service (FTS), which explained that the lack of funds in Russian Post’s account was the reason for the delays. The operator explained that payment is made through a special advance account, which is replenished based on the average number of shipments. «During the period from April 30 to May 1, paid shipments (mostly electronics category goods — personal computers and components, laptops, tablets, phones) arrived 6 times more than the average daily volume. As a result, for some shipments, the completion of customs procedures has been postponed until the first banking day — May 2, when the account will be replenished», - RBC was told by the Russian Post press service. The FTS noted that the share of such parcels does not exceed 0.2% of all imported international parcels. They will be processed after funds are received in the Russian Post account.



As of April 1, the threshold for duty-free import of parcels into Russia (the limit of goods that a buyer can purchase from foreign offline and online stores and import into Russia without paying customs duty) has been reduced to € 200 from € 1,000, which was in effect since 2022. If purchases abroad exceed € 200, the buyer must pay a duty of 15% of the value, but not less than € 2 per 1 kg. As explained by experts interviewed by RBC, the change will affect the price of imported goods not at the time of purchase, but at the time of passing through customs or in the case of postal delivery at the time of receipt due to the need to pay duty.