Mediamax, Armenia
Feb 13 2007

SWISS FERRY DEAL TO FACILITATE CARGO TRANSPORTATION TO ARMENIA

Yerevan, 13 February: The Kavkaz-Poti ferry service will start
operating on 15 March. Cargo in railway wagons will be carried from
Armenia and back.

A protocol to this effect was signed in Yerevan today between the
Armenian Transport and Communications Ministry and the Swiss
corporation (?Reserve Capital), the owner of the ferry.

Armenian Transport and Communications Minister Andranik Manukyan
pointed out that an agreement had been reached on the construction of
a ship holding 50 railway wagons. The ferry will take two trips a
week and work only for Armenia.

The minister said that this will make it possible to reduce the
expenses of Armenian transport companies by 20 per cent because cargo
has been transported up to date only through the port of Ilyichevsk
where the Ukrainian company Ukrferry has a monopolistic position.

The owner of the ferry, (?Hakim Machanov), believes that the opening
of the ferry link via the Kavkaz-Poti route meets the interests of
both Armenian and Russian exporters and importers. He also said that
the Reserve Capital corporation has started building a second ship
which will be commissioned in May.