ArmInfo.The volume of cargo transportation in Armenia in January-July 2020 to the same period in 2019 increased by 3.4% (against 55.7% decline a year earlier), amounting to 7745.1 thousand tons. Of these, 61.6% or 4774.4 thousand tons are accounted for by road transport with an annual growth of only 0.2%. This is evidenced by the data of the RA Statistical Committee.
According to statistics, rail freight traffic for the reporting period increased by 12.2% - to 1910.7 thousand tons. Air cargo transportation, on the contrary, decreased by 19.4% - to 10.3 thousand tons. The main pipeline supplied 1,051.7 thousand tons of natural gas, which is 3.6% more than in the same period last year. Freight turnover increased by 1% - up to 2618 million tons-km.
At the same time, passenger traffic showed a decline due to the limitation of international air, rail, and bus services under the current State of Emergency announced in Armenia due to COVID-2019. So, according to statistics, in January-July, passenger traffic decreased by 57.7% per annum (against 4.2% growth in the previous year), amounting to 46 842.1 thousand people. In particular, rail passenger transportation decreased by 26.6% - to 168.6 thousand people, air - by 67% to 645.4 thousand people, automobile - by 59% to 38 754.4 thousand people Passenger transportation by electric transport decreased by 48.3% to 7,273.7 thousand people. Passenger turnover decreased by 60.3% to 599.3 million passenger- km.
Note that in Armenia, to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a State of Emergency was introduced from March 16, which was extended monthly and will be lifted from September 12, while maintaining restrictive security measures. Restrictions on entry and exit to Armenia through the air borders have been lifted since September 2, and bans on communication only across land borders remain. Restrictions on visits by citizens of Armenia to other countries remain due to legislative regulations introduced by one country or another, and are not conditioned by bilateral relations. As for Russia, the restrictions imposed by the Russian government on March 16 of this year are still in effect, which also set the categories of citizens who are allowed to enter the country. Negotiations with the Russian Federation are continuing on the resumption of regular flights and the abolition of the ban on entry for citizens of Armenia.