You're reading: What’s the easiest way to send parcels out of Ukraine?

There’s no need to cram all those books into suitcases to take them back home. It’s fairly simple and inexpensive to mail them.

The easiest way is to send packages from the Central Post Office, Khreshchatyk 22, 228-3352 (Use the side entrance near the fountain).

The cost is Hr 65 for each package of books up to five kilograms. For other items, such as clothing, a package up to 10 kilos, costs $70.

A five-kilogram package must fit within the following dimensions: The sum of length, width and height should not go over 0.9 meters, with the greatest dimension no larger than 0.6 meters. For a 10-kilogram parcel, the maximum dimension is 1.055 meters, and the maximum sum of the length, width and height is 2 meters for packages going to Europe and 1.8 meters for parcels headed to the United States.

DonХt bother sealing the package. Postal workers accept only open packages because they need to see the contents and check them against a customs form.

ItХs better to buy packaging materials such as wrapping paper or boxes at the post office and have the postal clerk wrap it for you. That service costs up to Hr 7.

Be prepared to fill out the mailing form in Ukrainian. Form CP 71 must be filled out on both sides, which are identical. Print the senderХs name and current address in Ukrainian and the name and address of the recipient in the language of the country of destination. In the column ТBureau of origin and date of sending,У write Kyiv 1 (the code for the Central Post Office) and write the date with digits in the following order: day/month/year. The last column requires the senderХs signature under a statement that the package contains no contraband. The customs declaration form CN 23 asks for a description of each item as well as the name of the country where it was manufactured, net weight and approximate value in hryvna.

Besides weapons, drugs and explosives, it is forbidden to mail any cash, paid or unpaid receipts, periodicals dated before 1946, pornography or plant seeds.

It is also illegal to mail any kind of directories, encyclopedias, multi-volume dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, library books and anything published before 1946. To send such items, itХs necessary to get special permission from the Kyiv City Culture Department, located at Shevchenko 3.

The Central Post Office works Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The post office cannot guarantee any specific dates of delivery, but it usually takes between three and four weeks for a package to get to the United States or Canada and between two and three days to get to cities in Europe.

By staff writer Anna Kozmina