GEORGIAN PM SAYS RUSSIA WILL NOT IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS ON AIRLINES

Prime-News news agency
15 Sep 04

Tbilisi, 15 September: Air services between Russia and Georgia will not
be stopped and a previous agreement exists which precludes restrictions
on road traffic between the two countries, the prime minister’s office
said after a meeting between Zurab Zhvania and his Russian counterpart,
Mikhail Fradkov, in Astana (Kazakhstan).

During the meeting Zhvania expressed his surprise at the statement
sent to Georgia on 11 September informing them that Russia would be
imposing restrictions on air and bus services from 1 October.

Zhvania reminded Fradkov of an agreement reached several months
ago at a meeting in Moscow under which the two countries pledged
to improve the flow of traffic at the Larsi checkpoint in Qazbegi,
the only official border crossing between Georgia and Russia.

Instead, restrictions are being unilaterally imposed on traffic at
Larsi and unofficial checkpoints are operating on the borders with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Zhvania said.

He said that the Russian Transport Ministry was imposing unwarranted
restrictions on aviation and road traffic.

The prime minister’s office told Prime-News that an agreement had been
reached with Russia that air services would not be suspended despite
this threat. However, they also said that another possible reason
for this, as independent experts claim, is that Georgia threatened
to close its airspace (to Russian aircraft), which would have had an
impact on Armenia.

According to Zhvania, Georgia is prepared to grant an operating
license to any Russian bus company that asks for one and to establish
new routes.

The prime minister’s office said that it had been necessary to make
this statement because Russia had been trying make out that Georgia
did not want Russian bus companies to compete in the transport market.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress