ArmInfo. The government of Armenia has developed a draft decision allowing the importation of about 800 right-hand drive cars accumulated on the border with Georgia. Acting Minister of Transport, Communications and Information of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan said this to journalists on January 10.
The number of accumulated right-hand drive cars, according to Arshakyan, was presented by importers, which allowed the issue to be given a local solution. "This will allow us to solve the problem of cars accumulated on the border, and our business entities will not lose their investment," the Acting Minister said.
The draft decision has already been published on the e-draft.am website of the legal acts. If the ban on the "customs clearance" of right-hand drive cars purchased after October 1, 2018 was imposed, then, according to a new draft, the deadline is December 31, 2018. "So that citizens and importers do not get confused, I want to say that the ban on imports is preserved. On these days, only cars that have accumulated on the border will be allowed to enter. I urge our citizens not to make new purchases so that there will be no problems in the future." Arshakyan explained. Earlier, ArmInfo reported that right-hand drive cars could be imported to Armenia from December 20 with the condition of changing the wheel position. "Right-hand drive cars can be imported to the Republic of Armenia before March 1, 2019 within the framework of the customs procedure 'Processing for Domestic Consumption' Armen Pambukhchyan, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and IT of Armenia, wrote on his Facebook page.
To recall, at the December 6 meeting of the RA government, the right-hand drive car owners were granted the right to import their vehicles into Armenia before March 1, 2019. At the same time, owners of right- hand drive cars within six months after their import will have to change the location of the steering wheel, go through the procedure of customs clearance, register cars with the police, after which they will be able to safely operate them. Meanwhile, on December 11, representatives of the Right-Hand Drive initiative expressed a categorical protest against the decision of the Armenian government adopted on December 6 to postpone the ban on import of right-hand drive cars to Armenia until March 1, 2019. "There are about 1,000 right-hand drive cars in Georgia that are not subject to a change of steering. We did not ask for a delay, we demanded permission to import these cars," said David Gasparyan, a member of the initiative. It was reported that today about 450 cars are located in the transit zone of the Bagratashen checkpoint on the border with Georgia. "As a result, the government, without coordination with the members of the Right- Hand-Held initiative, has made the wrong decision. It's absurd to change the position of the steering wheel on these machines, as these machines will automatically become dangerous for operation," he explained. Representatives of the Right-Hand Drive initiative stressed that if the authorities did not reconsider the decision, they would resume the protests and block the way to the Bagratashen checkpoint.