Russian Post. Letter correspondence

According to Federal Law N 176-FD “Of postal service” letter correspondence delivery refers to universal service.

Domestic mail items are ones that can be sent within the territory of the Russian Federation.

International mail items are ones that can be sent abroad, ones received from other states or ones sent within the territory of the Russian Federation and sent within the frame of international postal exchange.

Mail items are divided into the categories depending on collection, transportation, processing and delivery.

Ordinary mail items are ones received without senders’ receipt delivery and delivered to the addressee without receipt.

Registered mail items (ordinary, registered, insured) are ones received with sender’s receipt delivery and delivered to the addressee with his delivery receipt.

Insured mail items are ones received with content cost estimating fixed by the sender. It is given out to post office closed or opened.

You can check postal item transmission if you know its ID number (applying within Russia and consisting of 14 symbols or international one) or its receipt number.

Registered postal items can be sent with content list, receipt note and collection on delivery.

Airmail items are ones received to be sent by air transport partly or all way through.

Several types of postal items are set for particular senders and addressees. They are as follows:

governmental. Top state authorities can send or receive such postal items.
military. Troop units (organizations, institutions) and their representatives can send or receive such postal items.
official. Ministry for Communications, communications enterprises and companies send such postal items.

Collection, forwarding and delivery of letters and postcards refer to the main postal services.

Content list, address and filling in information and other services refer to extra-services for the customers. All extra-services are paid apart but not all post offices grant this service.

* Term «delivery» implies that post performs home delivery of postal items for addresser (authorized person) directly at home, post office, by post office box in the house, in the street or at special places.

International respond coupons issued by the International Bureau of the Universal Post Union can be received as payment for international mail items. As a rule each of them has a date stamp of a foreign postal company sold the coupon. As an exceptional case non-stamped coupon should be accepted as well.

When a postal item is sent reply coupons are exchanged for stamps on the basis of an ordinary international letter that weighs to 20 gr sent by air transport. The coupon is to be marked with the date stamp.

Non-paid or non-completely paid letters and postcardshave been posted are not sent. They return to the sender with still valid stamp until extra-mail tariff is paid out completely.

If international postal items do not have address on they are considered to be non-handed. Domestic ones are delivered at destination and given to addressee after his paying extra-services. If the addressee refuses to pay such items are considered to be non-handed.