YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Armen Pambukhchyan from the ruling My Step Alliance is developing a maritime legislation for Armenia. Pambukhchyan is the Deputy Chair of the Regional and Eurasian Integration Affairs Committee of the Armenian Parliament.

He said the legislation will enable landlocked Armenia to have ships under its own flag and carry out cargo transportation.

“Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union that doesn’t have a common border with other member countries. And problems emerge in terms of logistics for cargo shipments. The connecting road is the Lars checkpoint, where traffic congestions happen several times annually due to both weather and business. The only alternative road is the sea, which we have used until now through ferries. We are exploring the possibility of container shipments. I am also initiating a maritime legislation. 44 landlocked countries of the world have been enabled under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to have their own legislation and become “non-landlocked” and carry out sea shipments through the closest nearby country. By having a maritime legislation, we acquire the right to have ships with Armenian flags,” the MP said.

He argues that this will also encourage investments because exporters will be able to benefit from Armenian advantages in the event of using Armenian ships.

He cited Mongolia as an example, which has nearly 700 registered ships despite being landlocked.

He said soon the legislation will be ready for further debates. The next step, according to him, can be Armenia’s having its own port in another country.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan