First or occasional shipment
No foreign trade experience in-house, no dedicated specialist, no time to build the process from scratch for one or two deals.
Import Agent
You receive the goods at your warehouse — we handle the foreign trade side
We act as the importer's agent on a turnkey deal. We negotiate with the supplier, sign the contract, arrange payment, logistics, and customs clearance. On your side, a procurement team and a warehouse are enough — no in-house foreign trade department needed.
When we step in
Four situations where a full import agency model pays back faster than building your own foreign trade desk.
Complex product or supplier
Industrial equipment, industry-specific cases, supplier expects domain-fluent dialogue and verification before contract.
Volumes don't justify the headcount
A few deals a year — hiring a foreign trade specialist, a logistics manager, and a lawyer is not economically justified.
Predictable outcome required
Goods accepted at the warehouse on the agreed date and at the agreed price — with no surprises at any step.
What's included
Full cycle of an import deal — from supplier sourcing to acceptance at your warehouse.
Supplier sourcing and negotiation
We identify dedicated manufacturers and distributors, run due diligence, and lead price and commercial negotiations.
Contract and delivery terms
We draft the foreign trade contract, agree INCOTERMS, settlement currency, timing, and acceptance conditions.
Payment to the supplier
We execute settlement under the chosen model — direct payment, letter of credit, or agency model — with full currency control.
Logistics
We arrange transport, cargo insurance, transshipment, and final delivery to your warehouse.
Customs clearance
We prepare the documents, clear customs, calculate and pay duties and VAT.
Documents and closing
We hand over the document package, close currency control, and help systematise the process for future deals.
What we don't do
To save time on the first call — we set the boundaries upfront.
We don't handle goods under sanctions or items prohibited from import.
We don't help understate customs value, bypass duties or VAT, or apply "convenient" tariff classification.
We don't take deals without a clear commercial purpose and a real recipient of the goods.
We don't guarantee outcomes that depend on suppliers, FX rates, or customs decisions — but we put the scope of our responsibility and benchmarks in writing.
Sourcing geography and supplier types
We cover most active import corridors into Russia. The exact supplier and route are chosen for the product.
Sourcing countries
China, Türkiye, UAE, India, Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia), EAEU and CIS. Europe and the US — on request, within current regulatory constraints.
Supplier types
Manufacturers (direct contract against a spec), specialist distributors, trading houses. Online marketplaces (Alibaba and similar) — only after full counterparty verification.
How we work
Six stages with clear timing. Exact dates are fixed in the contract after the initial brief.
- 01
Brief and sourcing
We capture product and supplier requirements, build a shortlist, and compare on price, timing, and reputation.
5–10 business days - 02
Negotiation and contract
We run due diligence on the chosen supplier, agree commercial terms, and prepare the contract and specification.
7–15 business days - 03
Payment
We accept the RUB settlement and pay the supplier. We handle currency control.
Per contract terms - 04
Production and readiness
We track production and readiness for shipment. We arrange pre-shipment inspection where appropriate.
Per supplier's lead time - 05
Logistics and customs
We arrange transport and insurance, clear customs, and calculate and pay duties and VAT.
Depends on the route - 06
Acceptance and closing
We deliver to your warehouse, hand over documents, and close currency control and reporting.
3–5 business days after arrival
Case from practice
All details are anonymised — client confidentiality matters more than a portfolio.
Import agent: first shipment for a manufacturing company
Situation
A manufacturing company planned to purchase specialised equipment from a Chinese producer. No prior foreign trade experience and no in-house specialist. The supplier required prepayment and was not willing to work with intermediaries without a confirmed business reputation.
What we did
We ran due diligence on two producers and selected the one matching the spec and pricing policy. We signed the contract with a fixed specification, FCA INCOTERMS, production schedule, and pre-shipment inspection. We arranged payment, multimodal delivery, and customs clearance. We handed the client a full document package and closed currency control.
Result
Equipment accepted at the warehouse on schedule with no acceptance issues. The client moved subsequent purchases to the same model and chose not to build an in-house foreign trade desk.
Frequently asked questions
The fee depends on country, product category, logistics complexity, deal size, and the chosen settlement model. We fix it in a written offer after the initial brief — no hidden mark-ups or "as-incurred" charges.
There's no hard floor, but at very small volumes the fee can outweigh the value of involving us. On the initial brief we say plainly whether the agency model makes sense in your case.
Our base model is an agency agreement structured as a commission — you instruct us to execute the deal in your name or in our name on your account. The exact structure is chosen for the tax and currency control profile of the deal.
Risk is allocated by INCOTERMS in the supplier contract and by the carriage terms. In the offer we show in advance which step and what share of risk sits with the supplier, the carrier, the insurer, or the importer. We help structure the deal so that critical risks are insured.
We don't handle sanctioned goods, dual-use items without proper licences, items prohibited from import, or deals with suppliers in jurisdictions where compliance risk exceeds commercial upside. On borderline cases we give an answer after review.
We build defensive mechanisms into the contract from day one — a deposit instead of prepayment where possible, pre-shipment inspection, penalties, and termination rights. If an issue does arise, we lead the negotiations, the claim work, and engage local counsel in the supplier's jurisdiction when needed.
Describe the task — we'll come back with a working model
Initial assessment is free of obligation. Within 1–2 business days you'll get a clear answer: whether our approach fits and how we can help.