Shipping to Russia over the New Year break: what to send before 31 December

30 December 2021Trade Pulse

If your cargo is due to reach the Russian border between 31 December and 8 January, prepare the paperwork now rather than while the truck is already moving. Russia takes a long New Year break, and the people on your buyer's side who accept documents, sign amendments and instruct the customs broker work in a reduced mode for most of that period. Our own calendar follows it: days off on 31 December and 1–3 January, limited hours on 4, 5 and 6 January, days off on 7 and 8 January, and normal work from 9 January. In practice this means a document set sent in the last days of December is handled in January — and the cargo waits with it.

What the Russian New Year break changes for your shipment

Cargo itself does not stop for the holidays. Vessels arrive, trucks queue at the crossing points, containers are discharged at the terminal. What slows down is everything that requires a decision on the Russian side: confirming a corrected invoice, agreeing an addendum to the contract, paying an unexpected duty, answering a customs officer's request for an extra paper. During the break those answers come with a delay, and until they come the goods stay where they are.

For you as the shipper this shifts the deadline. It is not enough for the goods to leave on time — the complete, consistent document set has to be in your buyer's hands before the break starts, not during it. A shipment that leaves your warehouse on 27 December with a packing list that contradicts the invoice will not be sorted out on 3 January.

The second point that is easy to miss: the Russian break and the Christmas break in Europe, North America or Asia do not overlap. Your office may already be back at work on 2 January while the receiving side is still off until 9 January — and the other way round, the last working days in Russia before the break fall on the days when many exporters have already closed for Christmas.

The working calendar from 31 December to 9 January

The schedule below is our office calendar for the New Year period. Use it as the planning grid for any consignment that is due to arrive around those dates.

Dates	Our office	What this means for your shipment
31 December — 3 January	Days off	No routine document processing. Anything sent in this window is picked up on 4 January at the earliest.
4, 5 and 6 January	Limited hours	Urgent matters are handled, but with a smaller team. Send scans in advance and expect slower replies than usual.
7 and 8 January	Days off	The pause resumes. Cargo that arrived earlier simply waits at the terminal or storage warehouse.
From 9 January	Normal work	Full mode, but with the backlog of the whole break. Shipments prepared in advance are cleared first.

Our last full working day before the break is 30 December. A document set that lands on 31 December will not reach a customs officer until January, and the storage clock at the terminal keeps running the whole time.

If the arrival date is flexible, the cheapest option is usually to have the goods cross the border before 30 December or after 9 January, rather than in the middle of the break. Where the schedule is fixed by the carrier — a booked vessel, a departed train, a truck already loaded — the timing cannot be moved, so the only lever left is the paperwork. Transit times differ by mode: groupage road deliveries from China are easier to re-time than a sea leg that is already booked.

Shipping to Russia over the New Year break: what to send before 31 December

Russia's New Year break: cargo that reaches the border between 31 December and 8 January normally waits for clearance until January.

What your buyer in Russia will ask for earlier than usual

A customs declaration in Russia is filed on the strength of the seller's documents. Every gap in them turns into a question addressed back to you — and during the break the round trip of that question is measured in days, not hours. Before the holidays your consignee or their broker will normally want the following in scanned form, well ahead of the physical arrival:

the contract and all addenda in force, including the ones signed in December;
the commercial invoice, with figures that match the contract and the transport documents to the last decimal;
the packing list with real weights, quantities and package counts;
the transport document for the leg — CMR, bill of lading, air waybill or rail consignment note;
the product description in enough detail to support the code: material, composition, function, model, purpose of use;
copies of certificates, test reports and permits held on your side, plus the technical documentation the laboratory will ask for.

Send these by email as soon as the goods are ready, without waiting for the originals to travel with the driver. It costs you nothing and gives the Russian side the chance to prepare the declaration and check the classification before the break, so that customs clearance starts the moment the cargo arrives rather than the moment somebody comes back to the office.

If the goods are subject to mandatory conformity assessment, deal with it before the shipment leaves, not after it arrives. Documents for certification take time to collect on the manufacturer's side, and there is no realistic way to gather them during the first week of January.

What the shipper should do

Check when your consignment is expected to reach the Russian border and compare that date with the calendar above.
Aim to have the complete document set with your buyer by 30 December — the last full working day before the break.
Reconcile the invoice, the packing list and the transport document with each other. Contradictions between them are the single most common reason a declaration stalls.
Send scans by email in advance; let the originals follow with the cargo.
Give the product description in full: material, composition, function, model. It is what the classification code rests on.
Agree with your buyer, before the break, who is reachable on 4–6 January and through which channel, in case customs asks a question.
If the arrival date can still be moved, shift it to before 30 December or after 9 January.
Leave a reserve in your own schedule for the delivery that follows: everything held up during the break is processed in the second week of January.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still ship goods to Russia during the holidays?
Yes. Carriers keep working and cargo keeps moving; what changes is the speed of the paperwork and of any decision that needs a person on the Russian side. Plan the documents around the calendar rather than the departure date.

Who can I reach between 4 and 6 January?
Our office works in a limited mode on those three days. You can write to us by email or call, and there is also a callback request — the green icon in the bottom right corner of the site.

What happens to cargo that arrives on 2 or 3 January?
It waits until the paperwork can be processed. That is why the document set should be with the receiving side before the break: preparation done in December turns the waiting time into a formality instead of a problem.

When does everything go back to normal?
From 9 January we work in the usual mode. Consignments whose documents were prepared in advance are the first to move.

Summary

The Russian New Year break runs from 31 December to 8 January, with limited working hours on 4, 5 and 6 January and a return to normal operation on 9 January. Cargo continues to move throughout, but any question addressed to the seller stops the process until someone can answer it. Get the complete document set to your buyer before 30 December, keep a contact reachable during the limited-hours days, and plan arrivals either side of the break where you still can. Request a consultation, and we will go through your specific shipment with you.

We can check your document set in advance and handle customs clearance for your consignee in Russia.

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