dmv wrote:
Jello wrote:

The real lesson being: never attempt to import anything to Russia on the level. Actually obeying procedure and 'the law' is equivalent to not obeying the unwritten rules. If you don't know who to pay off, you can't play. Strange, but true.

It is a very similar story for export (my experience, although I haven't written the Russian story... it was "impossible" or "unlikely" we would get export paperwork in a "timely" (3 day) manner until a couple of crisp US hundred dollar bills were added to the requesting paperwork (5 minutes)).

When I lived there, I had my parents send an old notebook computer along with wool socks and other little crap that made them feel better. They assesed a duty on the computer that was much more than its value. I couldn't afford to pay it. The company that sponsored my visa ended up paying it, and keeping the computer, just so I could get the other stuff. The whole thing was madening.

RE: Phone Seizure Seen as Example of Russian Corruption - New York Times