St. Petersburg is faced with a shortage of couriers and rising shipping prices

St. Petersburg expects a shortage of couriers and rising shipping prices by the end of 2025 due to a new decree prohibiting the work of foreign citizens who have paid for an employment patent. The business has been given a three-month delay to adapt, but experts believe that this time is not enough to solve the problem. This was reported by the Delovoy Peterburg newspaper on August 13.

"There are already not enough taxi drivers and couriers in St. Petersburg to cover the growing demand. After the entry into force of the ban on work on patents, the shortage of performers in these two industries will increase to 40 thousand people. This can trigger a 10-15% increase in taxi prices, and a more than 2—fold increase in delivery costs," said a representative of Yandex city services.

The bans imposed on couriers also affected movement on electric bicycles and electric scooters, which also increases difficulties for businesses. Starting on November 22, when the postponement expires, New Year's Eve demand for delivery will increase, and companies will face difficulties in meeting customer needs.

Alexander Mityukov, President of the Association of Transport, Logistics, Postal and Courier companies of Russia MAKS, believes that the shortage of performers will become obvious by November.

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"The reduction of workers in the delivery market will have the greatest impact on small and medium-sized businesses, ordinary citizens who use delivery services. As the cost of services increases, it will be extremely difficult for small enterprises developing their own delivery to compete with large players offering more favorable conditions for couriers," he said.

According to MAKS, more than 60,000 couriers work in St. Petersburg today, 20% of whom are migrants. These are professional deliverymen with experience and skills that will be difficult to replace in the market. Mityukov stressed that it is not worth counting on solving the problem within three months.

"There is a serious risk of compensation for labor losses at the expense of neighboring industries. Naturally, the increased costs will be included in the cost of goods and services. According to preliminary calculations, the cost of delivery for residents of St. Petersburg will increase at least 2 times," concluded Artem Sokolov, President of the Association of e—Commerce Companies.

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On August 11, the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, signed a decree restricting the recruitment of foreigners to work as couriers. The ministry stressed that the decision is aimed at combating shadow employment, improving the quality and safety of services in the courier sector, as well as creating new jobs for Russian citizens.

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