The Russian Federal Customs Service has taken into account complaints of the business and is trying to facilitate the customs clearance procedure by setting a fixed fee which doesn’t depend on the value of cargo. The customs clearance procedure is supposed to become faster and easier, but experts are warning that the new system will have a negative effect on medium-sized businesses. At the moment it is being agreed upon the amount of the new fixed fee; initially it was suggested that it should be as much as 5,000 rubles (approx. USD 160). Dmitri Medwedew admitted that Russia is losing potential investors due to the long and costly customs clearance procedures, partially caused by time spent of identifying and verifying the cargro value.
Source: www.retailer.ru