Vahan Martirosyan on the opening of alternative communications through Abkhazia and South Ossetia: someday the project will be implemented

ArmInfo. Minister of Transport,  Communications and Information Technologies of Armenia Vahan  Martirosyan believes in the prospect of opening alternative to "Upper  Lars" communications through the territory of Abkhazia and South  Ossetia. "I believe that someday the project will be implemented",  responding to the question of ArmInfo, the head of the Armenian  Ministry of Transport stated on July 13 after the meeting of the  government.

According to the minister, in order to promote the project, one must  believe in it. "Together, Russia and Georgia hope that soon the  alternative to "Upper Lars" will become valid," he said. Armenia is  not involved in the process, and it can not be, since the issue is in  the sphere of Russian-Georgian relations, only Switzerland can become  a third party. More precisely, the Swiss company SGS, which will  monitor the movement of goods from Russia to Georgia and back through  the "trade corridors" across the territory of Abkhazia and South  Ossetia.

The fact that within the framework of the meeting between Russian  Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and the Special  Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Ambassador Zurab  Abashidze, is scheduled to conclude consultations on the  implementation of the 2011 Agreement on Trade Corridors between  Russia and Georgia through the former Georgian autonomies - Abkhazia  and South Ossetia "The head of the Ministry of Transport of Armenia  was informed. In addition, being in constant contact with the Russian  and Georgian counterparts, the minister noted the willingness of the  parties to implement the treaty. At the same time, Vahan Martirosyan  is not sure that the 100% project will become a reality. "There is a  desire of the parties, which means - someday there will be a result,"  he said, emphasizing: "in our time" for sure. On the eve of the  Russian edition of Kommersant reported that representatives of Moscow  and Tbilisi agreed to proceed with the implementation of the 2011  Agreement on Trade Corridors between Russia and Georgia through the  former Georgian autonomies - Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is  noteworthy that in January this year. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen  Karapetyan called to think about alternative routes. It was  noteworthy that the Armenian side decided to return to this topic  immediately after the visit of the Armenian government delegation to  Moscow. Meanwhile, Vahan Martirosyan earlier called for not  considering the South Ossetian option as an alternative, saying that  such a barrier exists in the process as "political circumstances." 

To recall, the Upper Lars checkpoint, located on the Russian border,  and from the Georgian side, the Daryal checkpoint, since the  beginning of the 1990s, has become the only land transportation route  providing communication between Armenia and Russia, the checkpoint is  periodically closed - in winter due to avalanches and in the spring -  due to mudflows. The Georgian side has done a lot of work to  modernize the road and ensure traffic safety. Gagik Beglaryan, the  former Minister of Transport and Communications, said in the summer  of 2016 that it is possible to open the road through the territory of  South Ossetia: "The road is in good condition, negotiations are being  held synchronously with both Tbilisi and Moscow, but very little  depends on Armenia. "As is known, the Armenian side has repeatedly  raised the issue of the possibility of opening an Abkhazian section  of the railway in talks, both with the Georgian and with the Russian  side. But these efforts were also unsuccessful.