Georgia wants explanation from Azerbaijan over blocking of railway traffic
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
27 Nov 04
Presenter About 900 railway cars with containing various types of
cargo have not been able to enter Georgia from Azerbaijan for more
than a month. The railway cars are loaded with fuel transported from
Central Asia as well as humanitarian aid shipment of wheat sent to
Georgia from Kazakhstan. Experts say that the blocking of the cargo
negatively affects the image of Georgia as a transit country, in
addition to huge losses suffered. Azeri representatives have provided
no official explanation on why the cargo has been blocked.
The head of the Georgian Railways Department, Davit Onoprishvili,
will now be answering our questions. Batono polite form of addressing
a man Davit, what is the real reason for blocking this cargo? Have
you received an official response from the Azerbaijani side?
Onoprishvili Hello. Unfortunately, the situation with respect to
letting the cargo cross the Azerbaijani border got complicated a week
ago. More precisely, it started two weeks ago, but at first it didn’t
look like an established trend. But now it is obvious that 800 to 900
railway cars have been stopped at the Georgian-Azerbaijani border, on
the Azerbaijani side, and there have been serious problems with respect
to letting most of the cargo cross the border. We have sent letters
to that effect, but there has been no official response, unfortunately.
However, in private conversations – I talked with the management of the
Azerbaijani railways, other structures subordinated to me also talked
with respective structures – it is a fact that their motivation is
that some of the cargo could be going to Armenia. Therefore, their
customs and, in some instances, perhaps the Azerbaijani security
service too – this should be verified – have been checking these
cargo in every railway car, and so on.
It is also a fact that they have not notified us about this in
writing. As far as I know, none of our state agencies has received
any official notification as to why the cargo is being blocked.
Presenter Batono Davit, presumably when the cargo will be allowed to
enter Georgia? Can you name a date?
Onoprishvili We have notified the Georgian government about this
situation. The government is aware of this and they have been working
through their channels. We will send our commercial director there
to Azerbaijan . Negotiations will start on Monday on whatever can be
decided between the railways, but another aspect of this situation is
that the problem cannot be easily resolved on the level of railways,
involvement of higher governmental levels is required. I know that
this work has already begun.
It is a fact that this kind of artificial stoppage hinders the
growth in circulation of cargo. We achieved good results during the
first two weeks of November. Compared to last year’s figures, the
movement of cargo was up in all directions. Now, the figures have
been dropping. Obviously, this negatively affects both our revenues
and those of freight forwarders who transport this cargo from Central
Asia. Passage omitted
There is another strange aspect. If the problem is about redirecting
cargo to Armenia, if this happens, or may happen, then it is only
possible from Tbilisi. However, some cargo that has been blocked is
bound for the ports of Batumi and Poti. This is transit cargo which
should pass our borders. Therefore, these actions of the Azerbaijani
side are completely unexplainable in many respects.
Presenter Thank you very much.