Julia Talagaeva spoke at a meeting of the public council for St. Petersburg transport prosecutor’s office

A meeting of the public council for St. Petersburg transport prosecutor’s office was held recently. Not only representatives of the transport prosecutor’s office but also business and customs officers attended this meeting.

The issues faced by businesses when importing and exporting goods into and from Russia were the main meeting agenda items. The meeting attendees discussed, in particular, the problems related to the importation of mining equipment.

Julia Talagaeva, Senior Associate at Forte Tax & Law, attended this meeting and spoke, among other things, about the recycling charge imposed by customs authorities. Following amendments to Russian Government Decree No. 81, it is now possible to determine whether any given self-propelled equipment will be subject to recycling charge based on customs codes. This position is, in our opinion, contrary to the fundamental principles of taxation and gives rise to a number of problems for importers.

We have also brought the problems related to the importation of mining equipment to the attention of the public council for St. Petersburg Ombudsman.