Russian minister tells Armenians checkpoint to open in late July

Arminfo
12 Jul 06

Yerevan, 12 July: The Kazbegi – Verkhniy Lars checkpoint on the
Russian-Georgian border, through which Armenia delivers agricultural
cargoes to Russia, will be fully opened in late July 2006, Russian
Transport Minister Igor Levitin told a news conference in Yerevan
today.

He said that when the decision to close Verkhniy Lars for repair was
taken and construction work was being taken, Russia was sure that
the second border crossing, (?Nizhniy Zamarak), which is equipped
with all necessary infrastructure to receive and dispatch cargoes,
was operating. "Therefore, it is incorrect to say that Russia closed
the border," the minister said.

However, later it emerged that Georgia stopped allowing Armenian
cargoes through this checkpoint, he noted. "We are negotiating
with Georgia so that it temporarily allow Armenian cargoes through
the second border crossing and we will do our best to use it," the
minister said.

He noted that Armenia was not notified in advance that the checkpoint
was being closed for repairs.

[Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0955 gmt 12 Jul 06 said
that Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Levitin discussed the
closure of the checkpoint and the latter told Kocharyan that the
reason for the closure was construction work]