Armenia`s economy minister comments on Georgia`s new cargo  transportation requirements

ArmInfo. "We communicate with our cargo carriers on a daily basis, and the problem is not so  serious; companies can adapt to new requirements," Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan stated during government hour in Parliament, answering a question about the situation in Upper Lars in  view of Georgia's new requirements regarding restrictions on the number of tanks on vehicles. He emphasized in this regard that, of course, manufacturers are unhappy, but there are solutions.

"You know that standards change in different countries, new  conditions are put forward. But now we are more stimulating the entry  of our manufacturers into other markets. To achieve this, we actively  participate in various international exhibitions. And we are  directing more efforts to ensure that companies can sell their  products in the markets of several countries at once," the minister  said.

Kerobyan also did not agree with the deputy's thesis that such  restrictions could hit the Armenian economy.  In this regard, he,  referring to statistical data, noted that at the end of 2023,  Armenia's foreign trade turnover increased by more than 46%. "This  shows that your statement is incorrect," he said.

According to the RA Statistics Committee, Armenia's foreign trade  turnover at the end of 2023 exceeded $20.7 billion, with growth  slowing to 46% (from 68.6% in 2022). In particular, a slowdown in  volume growth rates was observed both for exports - from 77.7% to  55.3% to $5.4 billion, and for imports - from 63.5% to 40.2%, the  absolute value of which amounted to $8.4 billion and $12.3 billion.  As a result, the negative balance of foreign trade of Armenia for  2023, having slowed down from 47.8% to 14.7%, reached $3.9 billion