Last week, the European Commission announced that entry into EU countries in cars with Russian license plates will be regarded as prohibited imports.

Photo: TASS

Planes don’t fly, trains don’t run, and now cars won’t travel either. Last week, the European Commission announced that entry into EU countries in cars with Russian license plates will be considered a prohibited import. That is, prohibition, arrest, confiscation. Moreover, there are reports that this has been happening in Germany for several months now.

At first, only Finland spoke out against this decision. But she didn’t last long, just a couple of days and joined the sanctions. Now in the chats of Russians in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Poland, the picture is the same – everyone who is still on wheels is thinking about what to do and how to save their property.

From messages on the Internet:

“Displace or hide? What do you advise?”

“Drive before it’s too late. They are still releasing normally through Poland! In Russia you can sell a car for good money.”

“The most dangerous is Germany. There, customs officers even confiscated a woman’s car in her yard. Although she generally has a residence permit (residence permit). The Finns are generally great, they gave everyone six months to remove the cars. They turned out to be the most decent ones.”

Decent – this is of course a stretch. Because basically the situation is terrible. First, let’s figure out where cars with Russian license plates come from in the EU? After all, for a year now, Russians with regular tourist visas have been unable to enter, enter, or creep into the territory of the EU countries bordering us – Finland, Latvia, Lithuania. There were “holes” in the EU border for ordinary tourists only on the Norwegian side. But it’s far away; the flow there, in principle, cannot be large. That is, only holders of European passports or residence permits drove four-wheeled vehicles on the ground. And now, there is a complete ban on them too.

Moreover, we are not only talking about crossing state borders, but also about those cars that once entered the territory of Europe and remained there. Latvia and Lithuania stated that all cars with the tricolor, without exception, will be confiscated, no matter who is driving a European or a Russian citizen. The same is true in Estonia. The Finns showed maximum loyalty and gave citizens the right to leave the country in a car with Russian license plates within six months. But the Germans went the furthest – starting in May, before any official statements, they were already confiscating cars with Russian license plates, citing certain regulations.

– These messages caused a huge stir, – says the leader of the German movement “Gerussia” (Germany – Russia) Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Seyvald. – At first it was not clear who would suffer – only Russian tourists, or Russian-speaking Germans too? People have already started telling me about specific cases when cars are taken away. Here’s an example: a minibus was confiscated from an entrepreneur involved in transporting people from Germany to Kaliningrad and back on the border with Poland in the Frankfurt area. Damage of approximately 30,000 euros. It is clear that the situation will only get worse. For several reasons – the West expected that sanctions against would be destructive for the Russian economy. But this did not happen, although Western propaganda trumpets the opposite. And then tourists come and tell us how everything really is there. The authorities have a goal to limit the number of Russians in Germany so that there is no communication and exchange of information. The second factor is for your people to be dissatisfied with their government and influence it, to begin to rock, as they say, the boat. That’s why all this is done.

I WILL DISTRIBUTE YOUR “SWALLOW” AT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

After the statement of the European Commissioners last week, it became clear to absolutely everyone that it is now dangerous to drive with Russian license plates. People began to think about how to save their property. There has been a slight rush on the car hauling and transportation market.

– Today, September 16th, is the first day of the ban on entry into Finka on Russian license plates. I don’t know what’s on the way out yet. “Many of the guys will be going today, it will be clear later in the evening,” a student car driver, who advertises himself in thematic chats, writes to me.

– What documents do you use to travel?

– I have a Canadian passport, and a Russian one. So everything is secure.

Mikhail said that he is studying at a university in St. Petersburg and started moving cars in 2022.

– People began to leave, demand began to rise. We’ve been racing for a year and a half now. In general, demand has not subsided for the past 1.5 years.

Mikhail drives a car from Helsinki to St. Petersburg in 5 – 6 hours and 500 euros.

– How now? Is there a buzz?

– Not really. The Finns gave us six months to leave, which means you can still safely drive a car until March. Knowing our people, there will be increased demand before March. They call and write from Germany, France, Italy. But I’m not very willing to take on such orders.

– Why?

– Dangerous. You can also get caught in a criminal case, they say. A couple of weeks ago I took an order from Germany, and immediately told the client that at his own risk, if they confiscate it, it’s not my fault. But everything went smoothly. Moreover, I sailed on a ferry to Finland; I was the only one on the entire huge ship with Russian license plates. Although before there were no crowds there. I also drove the car from Nice in early August. Everything went smoothly too. So, in principle, I can take it, but it’s more expensive and I’m not responsible for confiscation.

SKIP GERMANY WITH POLISH LICENSE PLATES

Prices for moving a car from Berlin are four times higher than from Helsinki. On average they ask from 2000 euros.

“Yes, don’t worry, the main thing is to get through Germany to the border with Poland,” one such “assistant” reassures me, I introduced myself as the owner of a car stuck in the German capital. – It’s only a little more than 100 km from Berlin, but it’s already calm there. The guys travel all the time.

– That is, at the border when leaving Poland your car will not be confiscated?

– Not yet. But the situation is changing every day. Let’s wait a couple more days and see.

Other distillers that I found on the Internet offered a generally semi-legal option for 3,000 euros.

– We will put Polish license plates on your car. So we’ll get to Warsaw. And then everything should be fine.

– Is this a violation of the law? What if they get caught?

– Isn’t it a violation to take away cars for no reason? They won’t catch us, we’ve done this many times before. Girl, do I need to move the car or do you? My cars are fine.

Buyers are also actively profiting now. “We will buy cars with Russian license plates. Day after day.” Prices are, of course, lower than market prices.

“A bird is better in the hands, as they say. Money – 7,000 euros (for a one-year-old BMW) I will give you every day.

– Yes, in Moscow I can sell it for five times more expensive!

– We still need to get to Russia. If they confiscate you will get nothing at all.

This is the situation. Apparently, within literally the next couple of months there will not be a single car with Russian license plates left in the EU. For now, they promised not to touch vehicles involved in passenger transportation. But prices for bus tickets have already doubled.