Several Armenian cargo companies claimed on Wednesday that Russia is preparing to block imports of goods from Armenia through its sole border crossing with Georgia amid Moscow’s mounting tensions with Yerevan.
Senior executives of those companies, who asked not to be identified, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they have received such information from Russian customs officials. Some of them said their tucks are already being subjected to lengthier and more rigorous checks when passing through the Upper Lars crossing.
Vartan Hakobian, a customs attaché at the Armenia Embassy in Moscow, insisted, however, that Russian authorities have assured him that the claims about the impending closure of the Russian checkpoint for Armenian cargos are not true.
“I myself had a chance to see that are Armenian cargos are processed without any hurdles, restrictions or other problems,” he said. “They are crossing the Russian border in both directions.”
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Russia accounted for over 35 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade and more than 40 percent of its exports last year. Russian-Armenian trade has skyrocketed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Armenian entrepreneurs taking advantage of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
The Armenian economy grew by 12 percent in 2022 and 8 percent in 2023. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on Wednesday that this rapid growth resulted in large measure from Armenia’s “very close and mutually beneficial economic cooperation” with Russia.
Sargis Khandanian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations, acknowledged that Moscow could close Upper Lars for Armenian heavy trucks. “In the current international environment, I will avoid ruling anything out,” said Khandanian.
Citing food safety concerns, Russia already blocked the import of many Armenian food products for more than a week last November. Its Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog alleged a sharp increase in the presence of “harmful quarantined organisms” in them. Many in Armenia believe that Moscow thus warned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian against reorienting his country towards the West.
Russian-Armenian relations have deteriorated further since then, with Pashinian not ruling out last week Armenia’s exit from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). For his part, parliament speaker Alen Simonian declared that Yerevan should consider seeking membership of the European Union.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned at the weekend that Russia will seriously “reconsider” its relationship with Armenia if the latter continues drifting away from its traditional ally and aligning with the West. Lavrov hinted that Armenia could not count on continued free trade with Russia if Pashinian’s government pulls it out of the CSTO.
Lavrov phoned his Armenian counterpart on Tuesday. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they discussed, among other issues, Russian-Armenian “interaction within the framework of common integration unions.”
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
