Recently, a prohibition on import of laundry detergents to Armenia through Bagratashen Customs Checkpoint is operating. We learned about this from the residents of Noyemberyan frequently visiting Georgia and importing various products from there. According to them, Bagratashen Customs Checkpoint officers allow to import from Georgia one box of laundry detergent, and no more. The vendors told us that laundry detergent designed for automatic wash is about 3 times cheaper in Georgia than the same product sold in Armenia. The taboo for import of new tires is further strict than the prohibition of importing laundry detergent. According to the testimony of Noyemberyan businessmen, Bagratashen Customs Checkpoint officers totally banned the import of new tires from Georgia to Armenia. Some adroit drivers have found a way out of the situation: they change the tires of their vehicles replacing them with old and worn-out tires, cross the Armenian-Georgian border, in Georgia they buy and replace with new tires, and throw away the old ones. Thus, they avoid the unpleasant conversation with Bagratashen Customs Checkpoint officers dealing with import of tires. Noyemberyan vendors believe that prohibition on import of laundry detergents and tires to Armenia is due to the fact that they are imported by oligarchs intertwined with the authorities of Armenia, therefore they are prohibiting people importing the aforementioned goods to Armenia, even in small quantities. To receive clarifications with regard to prohibition of importing tires and laundry detergent to Armenia, we called to get details of the days and hours we called Bagratashen Customs Checkpoint of Gugark region on different hours and days, but by amazing coincidence the phone numbers of 12-21 of the Customs Checkpoint was always busy.
Voskan SARGSYAN
