Problems with Russia-Armenia trade

Currently there is debate in the Russian media about a refusal to transport goods purchased in Finland through Russia into Armenia. Russian railways has refused to transport the cargo, explaining that it could not so do due to the problems in Georgia-Russia relations.

Georgia-Russia transport problems have been the subject of complaints from Armenian and Russian entrepreneurs. During the Expo Russia exhibition held in Yerevan on October 31, many Armenian and Russian businessmen complained that Russian forwarders are refusing to transport cargo to Armenia, and goods first need to be forwarded to Romania and then Poti.

As Russian news agency Regnum says, the ferry line from Kavkaz in Russia to Poti is suspended, thus preventing direct Russia to Georgia transit, which must be undertaken before the goods can reach Armenia. The Russian trade representative in Armenia, Aleksander Zaitsev, says however that the Kavkas-Poti ferry line problems are of technical character and not connected with the deterioration in general of Georgian-Russian relations.