ArmInfo. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Keorbyan assures that "at the moment, cars mainly pass through the Upper Lars checkpoint."
Early this morning, it was reported that traffic in Lars was again closed for trucks due to heavy snow. "The problems at Lars arose due to increased (phytosanitary) controls. We initiated discussions on the issue at various levels. As a result, since last Friday-Saturday, the traffic flow at the checkpoint has been restored," Kerobyan said on today in parliament during government hour.
At the same time, the minister emphasized that it is important for the RA authorities that the products produced in RA are of high quality. And not only in terms of entering new markets, but also because it is important for the health of the country's population, he noted.
"In this regard, we are determined - to achieve the production of high-quality products in the Republic of Armenia in the shortest possible time, meeting high standards," the head of the Ministry of Economy indicated, adding that from 20 billion in 2020 it increased to approximately 90 billion and all ongoing programs serve this purpose.
Regarding concerns regarding the import of agricultural products flooding the Armenian market, due to which local farmers are suffering losses, Kerobyan said that according to his data, there is no extraordinary increase in imports of agricultural products.
On October 26, traffic on the Gudauri-Kobi section of the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars international highway was closed to trucks due to unfavorable weather conditions. On October 28, it was reported that about 1,600 Armenian trucks were waiting to pass through the Upper Lars checkpoint. About 800 of them were idle on the territory of Georgia - at the entrance to the checkpoint due to intensified laboratory control in recent days, as a result of which several dozen cars have already been returned to the Republic of Armenia. On October 29, commenting on Rosselkhoznadzor's statements about the increase in violations of the supply of vegetable products from Armenia and the reduction of control by the RA Food Safety Inspectorate , Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan expressed his bewilderment at the fact that during the whole year "35 trucks were returned (Armenia) while equally on the two days mentioned. And this is in the case when no changes were made in the regulations or in the quality of the supplied products". He stated that the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, within the EAEU, convened an urgent meeting on the situation in Upper Lars.
