Mnatsakanyan: Negotiations between Russia and Georgia on opening a  road alternative to Upper Lars continue

ArmInfo.Negotiations between Russia and Georgia on the creation of an alternative road to Upper Lars continue, as evidenced by publications in the media. Armenian  Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan told reporters after a meeting  with the Armenian community of Georgia, answering the question  whether the issue of opening an alternative road to Upper Lars with  the Prime Minister of Georgia was raised, and if so, at what stage is  the whole issue.

"Naturally, we are closely following the processes and talking with  our partners - Russia and Georgia about it. But negotiations are  ongoing between Russia and Georgia. Of course we talked about it  today, and continue to follow the process, hoping that the moment  will come when the solution of the issue will be more visible and  tangible, "said the Armenian minister.

To clarify whether this is a matter of the foreseeable future, the  Armenian Foreign Minister noted that he hopes that this will happen  as the negotiations enter a new stage. According to him, based on  conversations with partners, and carefully watching the processes,  one can only hope for it, but cannot say anything more.

Touching upon the Armenian-Georgian cooperation agenda as a whole,  the Armenian Foreign Minister assured that it is quite wide - a  stable political dialogue between the foreign ministries of the two  countries has been established (two ministerial meetings have already  been held this year), and there is no constraint on voicing this or  that issue. "Within the framework of this official visit, we again  touched upon all the issues related to our security system and  challenges in contact with our security systems. The need to develop  relations towards the creation of regional peace and security was  also stressed. Our countries are interested in this. We are satisfied  with this quite active dynamics that exists in our bilateral  relations during the current year ", said Mnatsakanyan, recalling the  frequent meetings of the heads of the executive bodies of Armenia and  Georgia, meetings at the level of presidents, as well as in  parliamentary format.  The Armenian Foreign Minister informed that  attempts are being made to encourage contacts between business  circles and representatives of civil society, work is being done at  all levels. According to Mnatsakanyan, the meeting of the  intergovernmental commission held in Yerevan has become a serious  basis for the work. The Armenian Foreign Minister also stressed that  the agenda of the discussions included a wide range of issues from  infrastructures to economy, education and science, and he was very  warmly received in Georgia.

To recall, the only land route connecting Armenia with Russia passes  through the Upper Lars checkpoint.  The problems of truck  accumulation in the winter season, and passenger cars in the summer,  connected both with the carrying capacity of the customs point and  ice, rains and landslides on the Mtskheta- Stepantsminda-Lars  highway, are common for Armenian carriers. In this regard, in  parallel there is talk about the prospect of opening an alternative  road.

On February 4 the Kommersant newspaper interviewee at the Russian  government reported that Moscow and Tbilisi completed the procedures  necessary to implement the 2011 agreement on the principles of the  customs administration mechanism and the monitoring of merchandise  trade. The agreement was signed in Geneva on November 9, 2011. This  is part of the package of documents concluded in the process of  Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It allows  the use of the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for trade  and transit of goods. Now, according to the Kommersant source, the  formalities have been settled and the launch of the agreed customs  administration and trade monitoring mechanism does not interfere  anymore. Swiss Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), one of the  world leaders in the field of inspection services, expertise, testing  and certification, will monitor the flow of goods and their marking.  Georgia signed a contract with SGS in 2017, and Russia - in 2018.  Representatives of the company should appear at the Russian and  Georgian customs terminals at the entrance to the trade corridors and  at the exit from them. The exact geographical coordinates of the  corridors are recorded in the 2011 agreement. It is assumed that the  so-called Abkhaz corridor will be served by terminals located in  Adler and south of the Inguri river, South Ossetian - in Alagir and  in the vicinity of Gori, and the Russian- Georgian corridor - in  Vladikavkaz and in the Kazbegi region (Georgian Military Road).  According to the agreements, SGS employees start work after  contributions from the Russian Federation and Georgia are received  for their work. Russia made the payment in June 2018. The Georgian  side paid for the work of the Swiss company last November. The amount  of contracts with SGS is not disclosed. As Kommersant found out, in  the Russian case the issue price is about 5 million Swiss francs per  year. Georgian contribution is the same. The parties will determine  the deadline for the start of the monitoring at a meeting of the  joint committee established in accordance with the 2011 agreement. It  was reported that the Committee will meet for the first time in  Switzerland on February 6. Zurab Abashidze, the special  representative of the Georgian Prime Minister for relations with  Russia, confirmed to Kommersant that the preparation for the  implementation of the agreement has been completed.