“It is an oversea job season”, because of the air-tickets are expensive, many people prefer to go to Russia by buses and minivans. However, an unpleasant surprise expects some of them at the Upper Lars border checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border. As we were informed by a resident of Noyemberyan city willing to leave for Russia for seasonal work, he has not violated the law in Russia, was not brought to criminal or administrative responsibility, was not fined, but the Russian border guards have sent him back from the Upper Lars border. They did not mention the reason, they have said they may know the reason from the Russian embassy in Yerevan. Noyemberyan resident noted that eight Armenian passengers leaving with them for Russia by bus were sent back from Upper Lars checkpoint. Now, the Noyemberyan resident has officially applied to the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Armenia to know whether he has the right to enter Russia. Since very many people have turned to the Russian Embassy, the response to inquiries is delayed. One of the Noyemberyan village residents said that he uses a quick and efficient manner of solving the problem. He is paying 5 thousand drams in advance at the Yerevan “Zvartnots” airport without buying a plane ticket to Russia. The airport worker makes an inquiry within two hours to find out whether given citizen of Armenia can have access to Russia without obstacles. If it turns out that the entry of given person to Russia is disallowed, the 5 thousand dram paid by this citizen is lost. On receiving a positive response, people often do not buy tickets, because is it cheaper to get to Russia by buses and minivans.
Voskan SARGSYAN
