RUSSIA TO BOOST TRANSPORT LINKS WITH ARMENIA
SKRIN Market & Corporate News
October 2, 2007 Tuesday 1:41 PM GMT
Russia has promised to reopen soon its main border crossing with
Georgia and upgrade a new Black Sea ferry link in order to enable
a further major increase in its trade with Armenian, the Portnews
information agency reported.
"They are promising to reopen the Upper Lars crossing in 2008," said
Armen Smbatian, the Armenian ambassador to Russia. He said Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian received such assurances from his newly
appointed Russian counterpart, Viktor Zubkov, during a visit to Moscow.
The Russian Government shut down the Upper Lars crossing, which
serves as Armenia’s sole overland conduit to the former Soviet Union
and Europe, in June 2006, citing the need to conduct repairs on its
border guard and customs facilities there. The move coincided with
an upsurge in Russian-Georgian relations that led Moscow to impose
a transport blockade on Georgia.
Armenian government officials and lawmakers have unsuccessfully lobbied
their Russian counterparts to reopen the border crossing located on
the Caucasus mountain range. They have argued that it is Armenian
export-oriented companies have been hit hardest by its closure.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
