Fines for the use of paper invoices for cargo transportation will not begin to be levied from September 1, 2026. The Ministry of Transport announced this in response to the appeal of unions and associations of the food sector, the letter was published by the Fish Union.
Since September 1, mandatory electronic document management in transportation has been introduced in Russia — it operates through the state information system of electronic transportation documents, GIS EPD.
"In accordance with the list of instructions following the meeting of the President of the Russian Federation with members of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 07/19/2026 No. Pr-1784 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and Rostransnadzor, decisions will be taken providing for the announcement of an oral comment to participants in the transportation process by 03/01/2027 if they do not have electronic transportation documents and present them on paper," the response says. the letter.
The value of a document lies in its status. The business asked the Ministry of Transport to consolidate the transition period during the implementation of GIS EPD and clarify the nuances of tax accounting. Previously, the absence of sanctions before March followed from the amendments to the Administrative Code; now this is confirmed in writing, with reference to a specific instruction, and the letter can be referred to when checking on the road.
Six months of delay solve the problem of those carriers whose integration is not ready. The obligation to generate electronic documents does not go away from September 1 — only the sanction for presenting the paper is lifted.
A separate issue that the business raised along with the sanctions was tax accounting. Transportation costs are confirmed by the bill of lading, and companies have asked how to reflect the transaction during the transition period. There is no explanation on this part in the response of the Ministry of Transport.
What a business should do. Carriers and shippers should use six months to connect to GIS EPD through the EDI operator and to test the scheme with real flights, rather than postponing it until February. It makes sense for drivers to carry a paper package during the transition period: an oral remark instead of a fine works precisely if there is a document on paper. Accounting departments should coordinate with the EDI operator how electronic invoices are generated and stored to confirm expenses.
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