Customs payments in Russia move to a single treasury account: what it changes for your shipment
A shipment to Russia is released only after the duties and import VAT on it have actually been credited to the customs account, and from 1 January 2021 that money goes to a different account. The Federal Treasury has moved the collection of budget revenues to a single treasury account, so the bank details your buyer — or your own customs representative, if you ship on DDP terms — uses for customs payments have changed. Money sent to the new details is credited within one day; money sent to the old ones takes two. For the shipper this is not paperwork, it is a schedule: on the day your truck or container arrives at the border, the funds are either on the account or they are not.
What has changed in customs payments
Federal Law No. 479-FZ of 27 December 2019 amended the Budget Code of the Russian Federation in the part concerning treasury servicing and the treasury payment system. Under it, from 1 January 2021 the Federal Treasury services the receipt of money into the budgets of the Russian budget system through the treasury payment system.
In practice this means that from 1 January 2021 customs duties, import VAT and other customs payments are paid to an account opened for the Interregional Operational Directorate of the Federal Treasury on balance account No. 40102, the Single Treasury Account. The old details are not switched off overnight: the full transition to the new details runs until 1 April 2021, and during that period payments still reach the budget by either route — only at different speed.
The official order and sample payment orders on the new details are available for download: the order, a sample payment order for customs VAT (advance payments) and a sample payment order for customs duty. The forms are in Russian and are meant for the finance department that actually signs the payment — send them on to your buyer if the shipment is on DAP or FCA terms and the payment is theirs to make.
What it means for your shipment
A Russian customs declaration is not registered and released against a promise to pay. The declarant must have money already sitting on the customs account as an advance payment, and the customs authority sets it off against the duty and VAT calculated for your goods. Until the funds are there, the declaration stays unreleased and the cargo stays where it is — in a temporary storage warehouse, in the port, or under the seal of the carrier that brought it.
That is why a change of bank details, which looks like an internal Russian matter, lands on your delivery schedule. If the payment goes out on the old details on the day of arrival, the customs clearance of your goods starts a day later than it would have. On a road shipment that is one extra day of the driver waiting; on a sea shipment it is a day of demurrage and detention on the container. On road groupage deliveries, where several consignees share one truck, a single unpaid declaration holds the whole vehicle.
Customs releases the goods when the money is on the account, not when the payment order is signed. A payment sent on the old details on the day of arrival costs you two days before release, the same payment on the new details costs one.
The practical conclusion for the sender is simple: your documents have to be with the consignee before the goods are, not with them. The invoice, packing list, contract, certificates and declarations of conformity are what allow the Russian side to calculate the duty and VAT correctly and to top up the customs account in the right amount in advance. If the paperwork arrives late, the payment is made late too — and the difference between one day and two days of crediting stops mattering, because the delay is already yours. This is the part of customs clearance in Russia that depends entirely on the exporter.
From 1 January 2021 customs payments in Russia go to a single treasury account — and the crediting time decides when your cargo is released
Old and new details: how long the money travels
Between 1 January and 1 April 2021 both sets of details work, so the choice is not between paying and not paying, but between one day of waiting and two. Plan your arrival dates accordingly.
| Situation | Payment on the old details | Payment on the new details |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient account | The previous customs payment details | Account of the Interregional Operational Directorate of the Federal Treasury, balance account No. 40102 «Single Treasury Account» |
| Time for the money to be credited | Two days | One day |
| Period of validity | Accepted during the transition, which runs until 1 April 2021 | Applies from 1 January 2021 and permanently thereafter |
| Effect on your cargo | An extra day in storage, at the port or at the border crossing | The declaration can be released the next day after payment |
If you sell to Russia on DDP terms, the payment is yours, and so is the risk: the customs payment is made by the customs representative acting for you, and the crediting time is the same. Whoever pays, the money and the documents have to be in place before the goods arrive — this holds for every mode, from air freight to sea containers, and for every service in end-to-end logistics and customs clearance.
What the exporter should do
- Tell your Russian buyer or your customs representative that from 1 January 2021 customs payments go to the Single Treasury Account, and pass on the order and the sample payment orders linked above.
- Ask for written confirmation that their finance department has updated the details in their banking system before your next shipment leaves.
- Send the full document set — contract, invoice, packing list, transport documents, certificates and declarations of conformity — several days before the estimated time of arrival, so that duty and VAT can be calculated and paid in advance.
- Add one working day of reserve to the arrival plan for any shipment whose payment may still go out on the old details during the transition period.
- Do not schedule the loading of a return trip, an onward delivery or an installation crew for the day after arrival — count from the day the money is credited, not from the day the payment is made.
- For contracts signed before the change, check that the payment instructions written into the annexes do not repeat the old details, and replace them if they do.
Frequently asked questions
I sell on FOB or FCA terms, so customs payments are not my problem. Why does this concern me?
Because the delay lands on your goods and on your relationship with the buyer. A shipment held at the border because the payment was credited a day later is still your shipment in the eyes of the customer, and demurrage on the container is often charged back to the seller under the sales contract.
Do I need to change anything in my own invoices or contracts?
The commercial documents themselves stay as they are. What may need updating are any payment instructions for customs charges written into the contract or its annexes, and the details used by a customs representative acting on your behalf under DDP terms.
What happens if a payment is sent to the old details after 1 April 2021?
The transition to the new details runs until 1 April 2021. Plan on the new details being the only working route from that date and make sure the change is made well before it, not on the deadline.
Can the payment be made in advance so that arrival day is not affected?
Yes, and that is the normal practice: money is placed on the customs account as an advance payment before the goods arrive, and customs sets it off when the declaration is filed. That only works if the exporter's documents arrive early enough for the amount to be calculated.
Summary
From 1 January 2021 customs payments in Russia are made to an account of the Interregional Operational Directorate of the Federal Treasury on balance account No. 40102, the Single Treasury Account, with the transition running until 1 April 2021. Money sent on the new details is credited in one day, on the old details in two — and a declaration is released only once the funds are actually there. For the exporter this means one thing: make sure the receiving side has updated its details, and send your documents early enough for the payment to be made before the goods arrive. Request a consultation and we will go through your particular shipment.
We can clear your buyer's shipment in Russia and confirm the customs payment has landed before the truck or container reaches the border.
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