12 additional lanes for cars were opened at Upper Lars checkpoint

ArmInfo. 12 additional lanes for cars were opened at the Upper Lars checkpoint. This is reported by the Russian media.

This, as noted in the message, allowed to increase the throughput of  the checkpoint. Today, 100 cars are waiting to leave Russia.

The formation of queues at the Upper Lars checkpoint was due not only  to the throughput of 200 cars per day, but also to the fact that on  May 18 restrictions on entry into Georgia were imposed. The  situation was also complicated by the weather: due to rains and  mudflows, the total percentage of downtime was more than 40 days. The  North Ossetian customs carries out a number of activities aimed at  solving this problem.  Thus, citizens can use a vehicle card and  complete registration without leaving their car. In addition,  measures are being taken to strengthen shifts by seconding customs  officers from other regions of Russia.

It should be noted that Upper Lars handles 800-1000 trucks a day on  average, with its capacity of only 400 trucks. After completion of  the reconstruction of the road on the Russian-Georgian border, the  capacity will increase to 3,000 vehicles per day. On average, about  650 trucks and about 1,700 cars pass per day under normal conditions.  In the busiest season (from late May to September), these figures  rise sharply. Georgia is also making efforts to improve the condition  of vehicles passing through its territory. At present, the  construction of the Kvesheti-Kobi bypass road is being carried out at  an active pace. This is the most difficult and dangerous section of  the Kobi-Gudauri Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars highway. The project  provides for the construction of a road with a length of 22.7  kilometers, as well as 6 bridges and 5 tunnels, including a  9-kilometer tunnel under the Cross Pass. The project is considered  one of the most complex engineering structures in Europe and should  be completed in 2024.

The road through Lars is currently the only active land crossing,  which can be used to get from Armenia or Georgia to the Russian  Federation and back. Armenia is considering a multimodal type of  transportation as an alternative: goods from Armenia will reach the  port of Poti by rail or by trucks, from there by containers on  ferries to the Russian port of Kavkaz and other cities of the Russian  Federation. Currently, the Armenian side is waiting for the final  permission to operate flights on the specified route. The port of  Poti is operated by the Dutch subsidiary of APM Terminals, which must  obtain permission from its parent company to give the green light to  the ferry service. The ferry will be used by fruit and vegetable  exporters, whose seasonal shipments to Russia have increased sharply  since June. The capacity of the ferry is 50 trucks and 40 wagons. At  the same time, the Armenian government will fully subsidize the costs  of the ferry for the first 6 months.