The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 29 2004
Azeri-Georgian rail border closed to cargo
Tbilisi waits for official explanation though some say cargo bound
for Armenia led to delay
By Anna Arzanova
Over 900 train cars carrying cargo, including 114 loaded with a
donation of wheat from Kazakhstan bound for Tbilisi, are currently
stalled at the Azerbaijan-Georgia border.
The reason for the stoppage is unclear although officials in Tbilisi
have speculated that the cargo has been detained, some for as long as
ten days now, because of a dispute between the Azeri and Georgian
governments regarding cargo being transported from Azerbaijan to
Armenia via Georgia.
Only Azeri products, including crude oil, petrol and diesel fuel, are
being allowed to cross into Georgia, and analysts are concerned not
only by the losses currently being made by Georgian importers, but
also that Georgia’s image as a reliable transit country is being
damaged.
Head of Georgian Railway Davit Onoprishvili told journalists on
Friday that the prevention of cargo from crossing the border was
having a negative impact on revenues.
He also said that the Azeri side had not officially said to either
Georgian Railways or any other Georgian state structure that they are
blocking the transit of cargo. “According to official information,
the Azeri side is just checking the cargo,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Economy Geno Muradian added that the Azeri side
was checking the cargo because of suspicions that much of it is bound
for Armenia.
“According to unofficial data the Azeri side suspects that 40 percent
of the cargo [currently waiting to cross into Georgia] is bound for
Armenia. The second reason given for the blocking of cargo is that
the Azeri side is allegedly fighting against corruption,” Muradian
said.
In June 2004, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed an agreement, which has
been ratified in Azerbaijan but not in Georgia, according to which no
cargo bound for any third country that could damage Azeri interests.
Although no country is named, the article was meant to prevent
transit of goods to Armenia.
However, Onoprishvili denies that any of the cargo is bound for
Armenia, saying that inscriptions on the train cars show they are
bound for Batumi and Poti.
Analyst Gia Khukhashvili, meanwhile, who was one of the authors of
the June agreement when he was a member of the railway’s supervisory
board, says that the dispute is actually due to the detention of
train cars belonging to the Azeri Bashlam company by Georgia because
of the non-payment of transportation costs.
“This concerns the payment of train car fees. The Azeri side has
certain arguments in connection with this matter. Some times ago the
Georgian side detained cargo belonging to the Bashlam company.
Azerbaijan is not an ordinary country and we have to understand that
all issues connected with Azerbaijan must be solved through
negotiations,” said Khukhashvili, adding that it is impossible to
maintain good relations with Azerbaijan when their cargo is being
detained.
However, Onoprishvili attacked Khukhashvili’s opinion as absurd,
saying that Georgian Railway has every right to detain cargo until
its transportation has been paid for. “His statement is absolutely
absurd. As for the company, if somebody has a debt to us, we stop the
train. The law gives us such a right and I think that otherwise it
would not be possible to make people pay their debts,” he said.
Onoprishvili thinks that if the money is not paid in advance no cargo
should be transported. According to him, there is no other way of
retrieving the debt. This way, he said, Bashlam know they must pay
their debts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is waiting to receive an
explanation from Azerbaijan. “We want to clarify now why cargo bound
for Georgia is being blocked,” said Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Mikheil Ukleba.
The Azeri Ambassador to Georgia has been summoned to the ministry on
Monday and according to reports the fate of the cargo will be decided
then.
Davit Onoprishvili has also left for Azerbaijan in order to settle
this problem.
When Presidents Eduard Shevardnadze and Heidar Aliev were in power, a
limited amount of cargo was transited to Armenia from Azerbaijan via
Georgia, and some too from Armenia to Azerbaijan. Heidar Aliev closed
his eyes to this and never questioned Georgia about it.
However, his son President Ilham Aliev has put the issue firmly on
the agenda: Alia reports that during the summer he threatened not to
visit Georgia unless the paragraph forbidding the transportation of
goods bound for any third country be included in the June agreement
between the two sides.
Clearly concerned, Armenian President Kocharian traveled to Tbilisi
almost immediately after the agreement was signed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress