Your Car Has Been Towed in Saint Petersburg: Where It Is, What It Costs and How to Get It Back

You come back to the car on Rubinstein Street or the Griboyedov Canal and it is gone. In central Saint Petersburg that is almost never theft. Cars left under "no stopping" and "no parking" signs are towed round the clock by the city Transport Committee, and the traffic police tow for pavements, crossings and double parking. Here is how to find the car, what it costs in 2026 and how to get it back — including when it is a rental.

Step one: confirm it was towed

Two 24-hour dispatch lines will tell you who impounded the car, for what and which pound it went to: +7 (812) 680-33-33 and +7 (812) 219-87-77. The Transport Committee's portal also points to a Telegram bot, "Поиск эвакуированного ТС" (@spb_evac_info_bot): type in the plate number and it returns the pound address and the procedure. Both are Russian-speaking, so have the plate number ready and, if needed, ask your hotel to call. If the car is not in the system, dial 112 — that is the police.

Why cars are towed

The Transport Committee tows cars standing under signs 3.27 "no stopping", 3.28 "no parking", 3.29 and 3.30 (odd or even days) and 5.27 "restricted parking zone", usually with a small tow-truck plate underneath. Patrol cars with cameras and inspectors cover the whole city day and night. Simply not paying for street parking does not get a car towed in Saint Petersburg: that earns a 3,000-rouble fine by post. A car in the paid zone is towed only if it has no plates or unreadable plates and is unpaid. The traffic police (GIBDD) tow for pavements, pedestrian crossings, double parking and disabled bays under federal rules; in that case the release permit comes from the police unit that ordered the tow. The dispatcher will tell you which authority it was.

What it costs in 2026

• Towing — 3,813 roubles for a passenger car (categories A, B, M and similar); 22,878 roubles for trucks and buses;
• storage — 115 roubles per hour for a passenger car, 230 for trucks and buses;
• the fine for stopping or parking under a prohibiting sign in Saint Petersburg or Moscow — 4,500 roubles (Article 12.16, part 5 of the Russian Administrative Code); 25% off if paid within 30 days of the ruling, that is 3,375 roubles. You have 60 days to pay once the ruling takes effect.

Towing and storage rates are set by the Saint Petersburg Tariff Committee's order No. 261-r of 19 December 2025 and are quoted before VAT; the pound will name the final figure. A car towed in the evening and collected next morning costs 3,813 roubles plus 10–12 hours of storage — a little over 5,000 roubles before the fine. Every extra day adds 2,760 roubles.

How to get it back

1. Find the pound by phone or through the bot.
2. Get the release decision. For Transport Committee tows it is issued at any of four district offices, all open 24 hours: Centre — 8-ya Sovetskaya ulitsa 31/27; South — prospekt Veteranov 131; East — Sinyavinskaya ulitsa 3; North — prospekt Engelsa 38. The owner needs a passport and the car's registration certificate (STS); a driver who is not the owner needs a passport, driving licence, the STS and the OSAGO insurance policy. If the documents are locked in the car, go to the pound first — you are allowed to take them out — and then to the office.
3. Collect the car. There are fifteen pounds; the nearest to the centre is at Shkipersky protok 16 on Vasilyevsky Island, the rest are on the outskirts and in the suburbs (Shushary, Peterhof, Sestroretsk, Pargolovo and others). Towing and storage can be paid on the spot or within 30 days of the tow, so the car is released even if you cannot pay there and then. The fine is paid separately, against the ruling.

If it is a rental

A rental driver counts as a person entitled to drive the car and can obtain the release decision with passport, licence, STS and OSAGO — the last two are normally in the glovebox, so the pound will probably be your first stop. Call the rental company straight away: the fine goes to the registered owner, and the company will re-bill it to you, usually with a handling charge under the contract. Bring the rental agreement with you. Do not leave the car in the pound longer than necessary: storage is charged by the hour, around the clock.

Paying as a foreigner

Parking, towing, storage and fines are paid in roubles, and foreign Visa and Mastercard cards do not work in Russia. Street parking is paid through the "Парковки Санкт-Петербурга" app, by SMS to 3065 from a Russian SIM, or at a parking meter with a Russian-issued bank card. Ask the pound how they take payment, and remember the 30-day window if you need time to arrange it. Our guide to paying in Saint Petersburg covers cash, Mir cards and what does not work.

How to avoid it

The paid parking zone covers the whole historic centre — the Tsentralny, Admiralteysky, Petrogradsky and Vasileostrovsky districts. It is charged daily from 08:00 to 20:00 and free at night. A passenger car costs 100 to 360 roubles an hour depending on how busy the street is; pay within 15 minutes of parking and leave no later than 10 minutes after the paid time ends. Before you walk away, look up: a round blue sign with a red cross or a red slash (3.27 or 3.28) with a tow-truck plate underneath means the car will not be there when you return, and the plate often limits the ban to certain days or hours. The parking helpline, +7 (812) 417-50-00, works around the clock. If it happens at night and the car was your way home across the Neva, read our guide on getting back when the bridges are up.

Frequently asked questions