YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS. Consultation was held between Armenia’s minister of transport, communication and information technologies Ashot Hakobyan, Ambassador to Georgia Ruben Sadoyan, Consul General to Rostov-on-Don Vardan Asoyan and the Russian partners at the Russian side of the Upper Lars border checkpoint, the Armenian transportation ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting the situation in the Upper Lars and the main causes of major traffic jam were discussed.

The Russian partners presented some statistics, stating that compared to the data of 2017, the use of the checkpoint by passenger vehicles and tourists has increased by 50% this year. According to predictions, this increase will continue in the future.

According to the rules of procedure, the Lars checkpoint has a design passport, based on which it should serve a maximum of 170 trucks, 3000 individuals daily, but as of August 5, 500 trucks and 15.000 persons have been served.

The Armenian ministry said the Russian partners informed that two weeks ago a group of Russian officials held a consultation at the checkpoint, expressing their concerns over this situation. As a result, they made a decision that all concerned agencies must present proposals within a short period of time aimed at increasing the capacity also given the geographical position of the checkpoint. According to them, some rules of procedures must be updated and engineering solutions must be provided.

The Armenian authorities, by using the current relations between the two countries, will try to find out what prospective solutions the Russian partners are going to implement.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan