ArmInfo. Armenia has every opportunity to become a transit country. On June 6, Gagik Aghajanyan, the executive director of the largest freight- forwarding company Apaven, at a press conference expressed this opinion, referring to the activities of the company he leads.
"There is a lot of talks about the fact that Armenia is surrounded partially, but we overlook it," he said. The company Apaven carries out orders from Russia to Iran, for which it receives funds and pays taxes, he said, noting in this connection that such an experience has long been active in Georgia. In his opinion, if within the framework of these supplies Armenia acts as a transit country, assuming at least 1% of the total share of cargo transportation between Iran and Russia, this will lead to a tangible replenishment of the state budget of the country. "For us, this is an exciting opportunity, as a small country, to be a link between two powerful economies," he stressed.
To note, APAVEN Company was founded in 1993 and is a large forwarding company with its network of offices abroad, with full and advanced technical equipment and with a large client and partner base.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the volume of cargo transportation in Armenia in 2016 increased by 85.3% to 20,485.2 thousand tons by the same period of the previous year. Out of them, 16,248.8 thousand tons (79.3% of the total) account for road transport, which increased 2.4-fold year-on-year. Rail freight traffic for the year increased by 3.1% - up to 2 610.9 thousand tons. Air transportation also increased - by 79.4% - to 18.3 thousand tons. In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of cargo transportation in Armenia increased by 88.9% - up to 6 049.8 thousand tons, comparing previous year, while road freight increased 2.3 times to 4,860.2 thousand tons, rail freight for the reporting period decreased by 3.1% to 584.3 thousand tons and air transportation increased by 77.8% to 4.8 thousand tons.