Since the beginning of the conflict between the Ukraine and Russia, the transport of goods to these areas has been severely disrupted. What are the current routes and how do they work?
Air transport between Europe and Russia is almost at zero.
Logistics companies DHL, FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) have suspended delivery of documents to and from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine due to the military operation in the Ukraine. The companies announced this on their websites.
The European Union has also imposed a ban on Russian aircraft flights throughout its territory. In response, the Russian Federation has also closed the sky to EU aircrafts.
Road transport works for some destinations with increased delays and costs.
The ban on the circulation of goods vehicles with Russian registration in Europe came into force on 16/04/2022. Since then, Belarus has introduced similar measures by banning the movement of European transport vehicles on its territory. As for Russia, it has not applied the traffic restriction measures for European carriers.
At present, there are three main possibilities to send goods to Russia by road:
- By using the carriers with Kazakh registration (but they are not very numerous on the market);
- Using European carriers through Latvia and Lithuania (but expect a long wait at the border);
- Using European carriers to the Belarusian border and then unloading the goods to Russian or Belarusian carriers.
Rail transport can be provided through the FERN: European Railway Network.
Sea transport is possible from the eastern ports of Russia, such as Vladivostok, and then, using the railroad, one can reach the southern and European part of the country.
The deep-sea service does not work anymore for the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.
Transport via Kazakhstan remains very expensive.
Transport via Turkey can be considered, but the Turkish capacity for large volume transportation is still quite limited.
NB from CCIS-EXPERTISE: the sending of the product samples for certification purposes can be ensured by road transport and currently takes approximately 2-3 weeks.
