About 70 trucks with Armenian cognac headed to the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border - Papoyan

YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. Over the past three days, 69 trucks with cognac headed from the Georgian customs point of Gezi to Upper Lars, said Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan.

"Negotiations with the Georgian side to speed up the pace are ongoing," he reported on his Facebook page.

On the situation with Armenian cargo on the Georgian border

Spontaneous laboratory checks of dozens of trucks from Armenia exporting alcoholic beverages to Russia or the Baltic countries through the Upper Lars checkpoint have been reported for more than 2 months. Due to delays in inspection, Armenian exporters are suffering financial losses. Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan stated earlier that he had discussed this issue with Georgian officials in Armenia, and it was necessary to understand the reasons and find an institutional solution.

Armenian alcohol producers appealed to state and international structures, in particular, to the National Assembly of Armenia, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the EBRD, the UN, the EDB and the WTO with a request to urgently assess the tense situation with the transit of Armenian goods through the customs territory of Georgia.

The letter stated that the Georgian side, violating the accepted international trade criteria, causes significant material damage to Armenian producers, who are unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to a third party. The authors of the letter appealed to international organizations and partners abroad with a request to urge the Georgian government to end this unauthorized blockade and lift the restrictions that impede the transit of goods through its territory.

On June 5, Papoyan reported that Georgia allowed 52 vehicles with alcoholic beverages from Armenia to pass in the direction of Russia.