"Police officers will keep an eye out for cars with Russian license plates, whereas failing to reregister the vehicle is subject to a fine of 100 fine units or €400," Maj. Andres Kitsing of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) said.

He explained that failure to reregister the vehicle will amount to being in violation of section 203 of the Traffic Act which covers driving un unregistered vehicle.

Registration requires undergoing the type approval procedure

The precondition for re-registering vehicles from third countries is a customs declaration issued by the Tax and Customs Board with the mark "goods released," with which one must go to the Transport Administration's service office and submit the vehicle for pre-registration inspection, explained Märten Surva, head of the vehicle registration department of the Transport Administration's Traffic Service.

"Vehicles produced for the Russian market generally do not have European type approval, and they can be registered in Estonia by undergoing an individual vehicle type approval procedure. This means there is a need to additionally submit documents proving compliance with the requirements for the vehicle's brakes, noise and emission limits, in connection with the assessment of their compliance," Surva noted. "Compliance assessment is based on the requirements that were in force at the time of the vehicle's first registration. There are two types of individual vehicle type approval: the regular process or the re-immigrant individual vehicle type approval, and the Transport Administration follows what is marked in the customs declaration during the procedure," he continued.

Surva explained that a re-immigrant is defined as a natural person who permanently moves from a country outside the European Union to the European Union's customs territory. Depending on whether the vehicle's owner is a re-immigrant or not, different requirements apply to the type approval procedure; that is, a re-immigrant can register the vehicle without needing to provide documents proving emissions and noise levels.

If the vehicle passes the pre-registration inspection successfully, the vehicle's registration certificate from the country of origin and documents proving ownership, such as acquisition documents or others that demonstrate continuity of ownership, must be submitted for registration. Ownership is also considered proven if the vehicle owner is listed as the owner on the registration certificate from the country of origin.

However, if a foreign individual is listed as the vehicle owner in the registry, an Estonian natural or legal person must be added as the authorized user – documentation proving the consent of this individual must also be submitted for adding an authorized user.

The state fee for motor vehicle registration is €130, with an additional fee of €62 for license plates. The state fee for individual vehicle type approval is €205, which may be subject to additional costs depending on the vehicle – for example, costs related to testing for brakes, noise and emission limits. Potential costs arising from customs procedures must also be considered, Surva acknowledged.

However, Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets has mentioned that for a car costing about €20,000, various fees amounting to approximately €6,000 would need to be paid.

Eighty-three Russian-origin vehicles registered last year

According to data provided by the Transport Administration, last year, 83 vehicles from Russia were first registered in the traffic register. In the first two months of this year, another 13 vehicles with Russian license plates were registered in the Estonian register.

The most re-registrations at 14 occurred in June, with 12 vehicles brought from Russia registered in the Estonian register in January, and ten in both February and May. However, in July and August, only five Russian-origin vehicles were entered into the Estonian register.

Most notably, among the Russian vehicles registered last year, there were eight cars produced in 2014 and 2015, three cars produced in 2023, but also ten cars that were manufactured before 1981.

Regarding car brands, there were ten Mercedes-Benz, seven BMWs, five Volvos and VAZs, and four Fords and GAZs.

Of the authorized users, 51 live in Harju County, seven in Valga County and six in Ida-Viru County.

Following the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia, Estonia banned the entry from the external border into Estonia of motor vehicles bearing the license plates of the Russian Federation from 10 a.m. on September 13.

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