RUSSIAN GREEN CARDS WILL STOP WORKING IN EUROPE FROM JUNE 2023
The international motor third party liability insurance policy "Green Card" (similar to OSAGO) of the European Union (EU) and Switzerland ceases to be valid on the territory of Russia from June 1, 2023, regardless of the date of their receipt and validity period. Similarly, Russian Green Cards cease to be valid in the EU and Switzerland.
Russian "Green Cards" will continue to operate only in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkey, Iran, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco and the countries of ex-Yugoslavia. These states did not terminate the agreement.
Pakistan and Russia are launching direct shipping links for the first time in an effort to expand trade, economic and energy ties between the two countries. State Minister of Oil and Energy of Pakistan Musvddik Malik told the media that the first direct shipping line between the two countries will lead to the expansion of bilateral trade and economic ties.
It is reported that the first container ship departing from Pakistan will arrive in St. Petersburg in 18 days.
The Russian Consul General in Karachi said that Russia plans to further increase trade ties with Pakistan.
VLADIVOSTOK BECOMES A NEW TRANSIT PORT IN THE RUSSIAN-CHINESE TRADE
Against the backdrop of a growing need for regional economic development, the port of Vladivostok has become open for cross-border traffic with Northeast China.
As a mutually beneficial cooperation mechanism, the new transit port is expected to give new impetus to bilateral trade and investment.
Zhoushan Yongzhou Container Terminal and Jiaxing Zhapu Port in east China's Zhejiang province will be added as entry ports for cross-border domestic trade with Vladivostok.
The inclusion of Russia's Vladivostok in the system of transit ports for domestic trade is part of the Chinese government's efforts to support the regional economy and trade.
EURASIAN RAILWAY ROUTE AND PROSPECTS FOR CHINA'S EXPORTS TO RUSSIA
In 2022, the transport industry in Russia and the EAEU as a whole faced unprecedented challenges in the logistics of goods flows due to large-scale trade restructuring in the wake of sanctions restrictions.
Despite the absence of sanctions on rail freight and the route operator, current operating conditions have led to a 35% drop in container traffic on the China-Europe-China route in 2022. However, the sharply increased demand for transit traffic within the EAEU, primarily from Russia and Belarus to China and vice versa, compensated for the drop in the volume of transit cargo.
China's exports to Russia in value terms for 2022 amounted to 13%.
The structure of China's exports to Russia is quite diversified, and most of the goods (81% by value and 58% by tonnage) are the result of high value-added production.
In terms of modes of transport, the biggest impact of the sanctions has been on air and road communications. Rail and maritime transport were less affected.
While maintaining the commodity structure of Russia's foreign trade turnover, there is a significant change in its geography. Goods from Western countries are gradually being replaced by goods from Asia. Thus, there is an increase in imports of pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical raw materials from India and China, as well as major global manufacturers and exporters of these products.
A NEW LOGISTICS TERMINAL WILL BE BUILT NEAR BLAGOVESHCHENSK
A new logistics terminal for the handling and storage of containers, general cargo and machinery will be built near Blagoveshchensk in the Russian Far East.
The investor intends to spend about 130 million rubles ($1.6 million) on the project. It is planned that the capacity of the terminal will be up to 150,000 tons of cargo per year.
The new logistics center is designed to accelerate the growing trade with Asian countries by offering handling and storage facilities for mobile vehicles, containerized cargo, machines and production lines. The terminal will include a heated warehouse for 2,000 sq.m and a refrigerated warehouse for another 2,000 sq.m.
A consignment of imported Russian meat products transported by train passed customs inspection on May 29 in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province.
It used to take about 45 days to ship imports from Moscow to Xi'an by sea, but a rail link through the Alatau Pass in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region takes 12 to 15 days, with logistics costs reduced by about 10 days. percent.
In connection with the restructuring of logistics in the direction of the Far Eastern ports and border crossings, there is a tendency to shift current and planned repairs to the east, but the technical capabilities of the local depots there are not enough.
Historically, the car repair base at the Eastern range is not as well developed as in the western part of the country.
Today, the concentration of rolling stock, which has formed in the eastern part, has led to a rather increased volume of wagons that require repairs. And repair companies are not able to digest them quickly.
As a result, additional problems arose in the infrastructure due to the accumulation of sick cars on the tracks of the stations.
According to the order of May 27, 2023 No. 1347-r and the resolution of May 30, 2023 No. 867, from September 1, 2023, the electronic queue system will be introduced at the Bugristoe checkpoints on the border with Kazakhstan, Zabaikalsk on the border with China and "Chernyshevskoye" on the border with Lithuania for the passage of commercial trucks.
Carriers will be able to reserve the date and time of border crossing in advance through a special free service on the official website of Rosgranstroy.
It is assumed that the introduction of such a mechanism will significantly reduce the waiting time at checkpoints and reduce business costs from forced downtime.
From March 1, 2024, carriers will be able to book the date and time of border crossing on the Unified Portal of Public Services and in the state information system of electronic transportation documents. Moreover, if plans have changed, no later than 3 hours before crossing the border, the date and time can be rescheduled.
THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT COMMENTED ON POLAND'S BAN ON THE PASSAGE OF RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIAN TRUCKS
"The ban on the passage of Russian and Belarusian vehicles through the territory of this republic, introduced by the Republic of Poland from June 1, 2023, will not affect the delivery time of goods in import and export directions," the message says.
The Ministry of Transport reminded that a similar ban was introduced by the EU last year against Russian and Belarusian road carriers. However, the mechanism of transfer and reloading allows Russia to fully ensure the delivery of the required volume and list of goods crossing the border.
"This ban will not provoke congestion at checkpoints and at the entrances to them. Taking into account the existing sufficient additional capabilities of Russian border terminals, the ban will not entail any difficulties with the transportation of export and import cargo in the European direction," the ministry explained, emphasizing that Poland's ban is more political than practical.
EXPORT OF GOODS FROM IRAN TO RUSSIA GREW BY 30% IN ANNUAL TERMS
Export of goods from Iran to Russia increased by 30% in annual terms. This was reported on Sunday by the ISNA agency, citing data from the customs of the Islamic Republic, which were published following the results of the period from March 2022 to March 2023.
According to statistics, during the specified period, Russia purchased 1.419 million tons of goods from Iran worth $743.882 million and rose from 11th to 10th place in the list of the republic's largest importers. According to the agency, most of all Russia imported products designated in the customs data as "parts of turbojet or turboprop engines, except for fixed and movable blades of gas turbines." In the structure of exports, this position accounts for $68 million, or 9.21% of the value of all goods.
THE FEDERAL CUSTOMS SERVICE OF RUSSIA HAS THOUGHT ABOUT A COMPLETE REJECTION OF CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS
The Federal Customs Service (FTS) of Russia is thinking about completely abandoning customs declarations and switching to automatic calculation of customs payments based on working with data, Ruslan Davydov, acting head of the department, said, speaking at an international conference of the Federal Tax Service.
According to Davydov, this will allow the department to switch to automatic billing of payments to businesses. But he acknowledged that for this it is necessary to change not only administrative processes, but also the mentality.
Customs does not see any technical obstacles for this: already now the FCS draws up almost all declarations in electronic form, exceptions make up a hundredth of a percent. About a third of them are issued automatically.