GEORGIA INTRODUCES NEW TRANSIT REGULATIONS FOR RUSSIAN MILITARY

RIA Novosti, Russia
October 03, 2006

TBILISI, October 3 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia’s Defense Ministry said
Tuesday it had established new regulations for the transit of Russian
military hardware and personnel via Georgia to Armenia and back
to Russia.

The Defense Ministry said on its Web site that "according to an
agreement signed between Georgia and the Russian Federation on March
31, 2006 on the ‘Organization of Transit of Military Cargoes and
Military Personnel through the Territory of Georgia between Georgia
and the Russian Federation,’ the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, from
October 9, 2006, establishes new rules for organization of the transit
of military cargoes and military personnel, their family members,
accompanying groups and military transport through the territory of
Georgia to the 102nd Russian military base."

The Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri, about 120 kilometers
(75 miles) from the Armenian capital Yerevan, is part of a joint air
defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was
deployed in Armenia in 1995.

Vladimir Kupardadze, a senior officer with Russia’s military command
in the South Caucasus, said it remained unclear how the new regulations
would affect travel arrangements because he was yet to receive official
notification from Georgia.