Four corridors from Europe to Russia: how to choose between sea, Poland, Lithuania and the south

Four routes are tools, not competitors

Exporters often ask for “the best route from Europe to Russia”, but the question is framed wrongly: each of our four corridors solves its own task rather than competing for the title of cheapest. Sea via Rotterdam, road groupage via Warsaw, consolidation in Lithuania and the southern route via Turkey and Iran differ not only in price but in which cargo, what volume and what urgency they suit.

Before comparing tariffs, fix three parameters of the consignment: volume (one package or a full truck), acceptable transit time and the product profile — ordinary goods, or an item whose HS code needs checking against restrictions. These three answers usually rule out two of the four routes at once.

Common to all four corridors: we work only with companies, the minimum service fee is €200, and we do not carry sanctioned or dual-use goods on any route, however attractive the tariff may look.

Sea via Rotterdam: the port schedule sets the timing

LCL via Rotterdam is the base route for shipments that can be planned in advance. The port warehouse receives goods Monday to Wednesday, closes intake for a sailing on Friday, and the vessel leaves at the weekend; the crossing takes 6–7 days, with release at the port of St Petersburg. Prices start at €200 per place or €500 per euro-pallet, which makes Rotterdam the cheapest option where cost matters more than speed.

The schedule is decisive: goods that arrive on a Thursday miss the next sailing and wait for the next intake window — add up to a week. Plan the collection from your premises around this schedule rather than the overall “about 2 weeks”, which is counted from actual loading on a sailing.

The EX1 lodged at the same warehouse costs €150 — cheaper than remote clearance because the documents are filed on site by the people who receive and consolidate the cargo. That also makes Rotterdam the logical choice when the main aim is to close the export declaration as cheaply as possible.

Road via Warsaw: warehouse for groupage, full trucks go direct

The Warsaw warehouse handles only groupage — consignments consolidated with other shipments and trucked to a temporary storage warehouse in Moscow. The rate starts at €850 for three pallets, and the transit is shorter than the sea leg: it is road, not a vessel with a fixed schedule.

A full truckload does not go through the Warsaw warehouse at all: a dedicated truck runs direct, with a trailer swap or transhipment at the EU–EAEU border and no intermediate consolidation. Reference prices for a dedicated truck: from €4,500 Warsaw – Moscow, from €6,200 Slovenia – Moscow, from €6,500 Italy – Moscow; the spread reflects the length of the EU leg to the border. One or two pallets almost always go as groupage; any volume that justifies a dedicated truck would only be slowed down by an extra transhipment.

Lithuania and Vilnius: strict customs, EX1 only remotely

The Lithuanian corridor via Vilnius is another consolidation warehouse for groupage, with two caveats. First, in our experience Lithuanian customs is the most demanding of all the customs offices on our corridors, and any ambiguity about a product code is examined more thoroughly than in Rotterdam or Warsaw.

Second, the EX1 is not opened at the Lithuanian warehouse — only remotely, from €450, by a customs agent in the country of dispatch. For goods moving via Vilnius, the export document is prepared in parallel with transport rather than when the consignment reaches the warehouse. The corridor suits regular groupage from the Baltic states and neighbouring regions, where a short leg to the warehouse offsets the stricter check at entry.

The southern route and full trucks from any EU city

The fourth route — by road via Turkey and Iran — is chosen deliberately, not by default: it serves as an alternative when northern border crossings are congested or closed. Transit is from 40 days, far longer than the other three corridors. A different route never changes what may be exported: the same sanctions screening applies to every corridor.

Separately, we run full-truck (FTL) transport with loading in any EU city: Valencia – Yekaterinburg, for example, takes 9–12 days with a trailer swap at the EU–EAEU border. This covers suppliers in Spain, France or Italy whose volume fills a truck, where routing via a consolidation warehouse makes no sense. Our EU logistics service collects from your door anywhere in the EU; route and price are calculated for the specific city and volume.

Example: one consignment, three ways

Hypothetical consignment: 3 euro-pallets of furniture from Italy, about 900 kg, to Moscow, the buyer can wait up to a month. The smaller the volume, the better consolidation pays; a dedicated truck pays off only once the volume actually fills it.

Checklist before you request a quote

• ✓How many packages or pallets? One to three — consolidation; a full truck — dedicated transport.
• ✓Where is the cargo? Germany and Poland — Warsaw; the Baltics — Vilnius; southern and western Europe — Rotterdam or a full truck from any EU city.
• ✓How much time is there? Days — road; two weeks or more — sea.
• ✓Is the HS code clear of restrictions? We check this before the deal, not after dispatch.

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