Not many roads lead to Moscow
Transport services to countries subject to sanctions – the example of Russia. Finding routes that no one else has found is the pride of the forwarder. Managing director and owner Gabriela Schuster reported on the latest experiences of her company, XXL Translog, which manages project transports to Russia from Dortmund, amongst other jobs. The usual dimensions of time and costs have been shifted for these transports, but even these tasks aren’t impossible (yet).
Not all sanctions are the same, even as they take up ever more room in the global freight forwarding industry. Gabriela Schuster, the managing director of XXL Translog, from Dortmund (Germany) addressed the Propeller Club, Port of Basel, on this matter recently. She reported on the challenges that permitted transports to Russia currently encounter, also in the project logistics segment.
Nothing too hard for a forwarder
Eight EU sanctions packages are in place, creating high hurdles. The density of regulations is not limited to export controls on dual-use or high-tech goods, for example, but also demands the full attention of the forwarder on account of restrictions on payment transactions, a ban on cash transactions and Russian bonds, as well as individual requirements for individual companies and organisations.
Transport routes have also shifted. “At the beginning of the tightened measures regime, many shippers carried out deliveries via the Baltic states,” Schuster explained. Since these routes are now limited, specialised forwarders such as XXL Translog now use access via Poland and Belarus.
“We reload the shipments at a customs warehouse in Poland,” Schuster says, “and with new documentation they can then cross the Belarusian border. There they then have to be reloaded again for transport to Russia.”
“Unpredictable border jams make adherence to schedules difficult.”
However, the goods have to get on their way first. Approvals from Germany’s office for economic affairs and export control are not only uncertain for manufacturers, but can take up to 19 weeks. Banks can also delay or refuse payments because official announcements are late or wording seems unclear.
Getting the goods delivered remains the motto. This is how transports continue to be managed successfully. However, in view of unpredictable traffic jams at the borders, adherence to schedules isn’t really possible and costs can’t really be calculated.
“Shippers are happy to use our services, but don’t indemnify us against risks such as longer transit times or unexpected additional costs,” Schuster elaborated. Asked how much of XXL’s business Russian traffic still represents, the answer was 10%.
The influx of interested new logistics executives into the Propeller Club, Port of Basel, continues unabated. Four new members were admitted to the club on 22 November. The path into the Club remains unobstructed for the younger generation.