LARSI CHECKPOINT OPENING ISSUES
The Messenger
March 10 2010
Georgia
Georgia has officially declared that it agreed to open the Larsi
checkpoint at the Georgian- Russian border for the sake of Armenia.
Analysts suggest that reopening this checkpoint will decrease the
cost of transit between Russia and Armenia by 20-25% while it will
bring Georgia no economic benefit at all, or a very insignificant one.
Chairman of the Armenian Entrepreneurs Union Arsen Kazarian has
stated that transportation of goods between Russia and Armenia via
the Kavkaz-Poti ferry line takes up to 25 days. After the opening of
Larsi checkpoint this time will be halved.
Georgian economic analysts think that the Larsi checkpoint could also
be useful for Azerbaijan. Maybe it will also create some jobs in the
Kazbegi region. However Gia Khukhashvili says that there will be no
economic benefit for Georgia at all and rather the checkpoint opening
could lead to losses, because transporting goods through Poti port
brings some profit for the port itself, railway transport and some
infrastructure, which will disappear and not be replaced now Larsi
is open.
Opening the Larsi checkpoint is a big challenge and all sides are
attentively observing developments.