Mail Service: The post office system in Russia is responsible for "communications" (svyaz) which includes postal service, telegraph, intercity and international telephone calls, and accepting subscriptions to newspapers and magazines. Postal pick-up boxes (pochta) are blue and white. Mail is delivered daily to your post box in your building.
Outbound airmail to the UK and USA takes up to three weeks to arrive and is reliable. Incoming mail is less reliable and can take three weeks or more.
The Main Post Office (Glavpochtamt ) provides all services including the mailing of international letters and packages, domestic letters and packages, subscriptions, and the sale of stamps for collectors. Note, packages must be wrapped at the post office.
Glavpochtamt = Main Post Office
Stamps, express mail, packages, magazine & newspaper subscriptions, telegraph, philately.
Pochtamtskaya ul., 9........ 312-83-02
Daily 9-21; T-bus 5, 14, 22, near St. Isaac's square; F8 (E5)
Express mail is part of the International EMS express mail service and works rather well. EMS operates out of a separate building on Konnogvardeyskiy bulv., 4. EMS takes about 1 week, private express parcel (DHL) takes about 2-3 days. See EXPRESS MAIL & PARCEL SERVICE.
Express Mail Service of Glavpochtampt = Sluzhba uskorennoy pochty Glavpochtamta
Express mail, couriers available
Konnogvardeyskiy bulv.,4, pod. 7........ 311-92-90
Mo-Fr 9-18; T-bus 5, 22, 44; F7 (E6)
Branch Post Offices, of which there are about 700 are called "Otdelenie svyazi." They sell stamps and take subscriptions to newspapers and magazines and handle mailing of domestic and international letters. Only a few accept international packages.
There also are post office counters with limited services in the following hotels: Astoria, Kareliya, Moskva, Pribaltiyskaya, Pulkovskaya, and St. Petersburg.
Historical facts: The main post office, opened in 1714, was the first in Russia. In 1833, the first city postal system in Russia, with forty-eight postal "substations," was established. The first "post boxes" appeared in 1848. Stamps were introduced in 1858. Little has changed since then.
