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Is it possible to leave an EU bike in Russia? Is it possible to leave an EU bike in Russia?
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Northern and Central Asia Topics specific to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea
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  #1  
Old 30 Jun 2014
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Is it possible to leave an EU bike in Russia?
I'm hoping to leave my Irish registered Transalp in Irkutsk in storage or to sell to another traveller.

Is this possible with the temporary import situation?
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Old 30 Jun 2014
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Not legally.

Its a temporary import because its temporary. You get 3 months tax free entry. You can extend it a little (I think to 6 months). The idea is you are allowed to bring it into Russia tax free, only because you are promising to take it out again, relatively soon.

But if the bike is in country longer than the temporary time on the import docs, then its no longer a temporary import. Its just an import. And as an import, you need to pay import duty.

When you temporarily import a bike into Russia (or most countries for that matter) you have three choices

(1) take it out on time
(2) pay import duty
(3) do neither and risk problems with Russian customs and immigration

There may be a 4th option ... some countries like Australia and Morocco allow you to go to a customs approved wrecking yard and crush the vehicle, so it can not be used nor can spare parts be used from the bike (since the bike has not had duty paid on it, no part of it can be used in country). If you do that, make sure you get a customs certificate saying the bike was crushed.
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Old 30 Jun 2014
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Thanks for that, I was really hoping to ride from UB to Irkutsk to see lake Baikal, it might be easier to leave the bike in UB and get a train to Irkutsk.

Any idea what the import taxes are if I did sell it in Russia?
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Old 1 Jul 2014
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Or ride it to Baikal and then back to the Mongolian border.

From memorys sake, there are a bunch of vehicles (usually Mongol Rally vehicles) abandoned in the no mans land between the Russian and Mongolian borders at Altanbulag.

Also the Oasis Guesthouse in UB has been known to store vehicles over the winter, so there is clearly some scope to do it in Mongolia. The Mongolians don't give you a temporary import permit for your vehicle.

The temp import permit is a QR code sticker customs at entry will stick on the back of your customs form. The form must be kept and hand handed in to customs when you exit, and must be shown to traffic cops on demand.
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Old 1 Jul 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colebatch View Post
[...]
Also the Oasis Guesthouse in UB has been known to store vehicles over the winter, so there is clearly some scope to do it in Mongolia. The Mongolians don't give you a temporary import permit for your vehicle.
[...]
Walter, can you explain how this works in Mongolia, if you know?
They don't register your entrance with a bike when you enter at the border?

I read many times about people storing their bikes in Mongolia but I never read about papers etc...
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Old 4 Jul 2014
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Originally Posted by crisidsto View Post
Walter, can you explain how this works in Mongolia, if you know?.
I dont really know in detail, but in all the times I have been to Mongolia, i was never once given anything I had to show on exit. The Russian customs zone does.

The Mongolians seem to faff around with computers a bit when you enter the country, but I dont know exactly how thorough and comprehensive their system is. I will say its a lot less thorough and comprehensive than the Russians system tho.

None of the people I know who have kept their bikes in Mongolia over the winter seem to have had issues upon taking the bikes out 9 months later.

On the other hand, I also dont want to encourage Mongolia to start cracking down on imported bikes. If a bunch of people suddenly start riding bikes to Mongolia and not taking them out, then it does encourage them to clamp down on it.

So it seems to be a bit of a window for now, but the danger in telling people about it and encouraging people to use this window is that it draws attention to it and encourages the authorities to close it.

Use sparingly or in case of no other alternative ... would be my call. (as opposed to abusing the system)
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Old 2 Jul 2014
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Import taxes could be paid only by Russian nationals or legal residents. In total you can just add 42% to the average Schwake price of your bike to understand the sum of all payments.
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Old 2 Jul 2014
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6 months is the official maximum in Russia as I understand it, I know this because the guy I rode to Mongolia with crashed and the bike ended up being taken to Moscow from Ishim where it was taken in by a garage.

My friend was told the limit was 12 months and thought no more of it until trying to leave Russia the following summer

However they did concede to let him go without a fine/bribe or penalty
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