Several dozens of Armenian trucks with alcohol products have already gone through the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border after waiting for permission for days and entered the territory of the Russian Federation, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said.
"An important part of the ministry's economic policy is to oversee the quality of goods exported from Armenia. And we started such a process some time ago to make sure that alcohol products exported from Armenia are of high quality," Kerobyan told reporters.
Kerobyan denied political implications behind the huge lines of Armenian trucks at the checkpoint. "Alcohol samples have been taken from some trucks for enhanced quality check, We are waiting for the results. The rest of the vehicles are passing through without problems," the minister said.
Earlier reports said about 60 trucks with Armenian cognac of different producers were stuck at the Georgian-Russian checkpoint Upper Lars due to quality checks by Russian customs service.
Now all cognac exported from Armenia is subject to inspection which may take as long as 1 week or a month. There were no reports that trucks with other goods heading from Armenia to Russia faced similar problems.
According to Armenian trade attaché deployed at the checkpoint about 200 trucks with Armenian goods go through the customs checkpoint into Russia.
To Moscow's disaster, Armenia ratified International Criminal Court’s statute on October 3, trucks exporting Armenian brandy to Russia were being held up that same day
Armenia’s parliament ratified the founding statute of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday (3 October), subjecting itself to the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague and vexing Russia, whose president the ICC wants to arrest.
The Kremlin said the decision was “incorrect” and that it would have questions for Armenia’s “current leadership”, which it should instead look to its established allies, not least Moscow.
A spokeswoman for the Yerevan parliament said 60 deputies had voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and 22 had voted against.
Russian-Armenian ties have been badly strained by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russia’s inaction as Armenia’s neighbour Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh, a region controlled for three decades by ethnic Armenians, most of whom have now fled.
On that same day Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said that trucks exporting Armenian brandy to Russia were being held up at the Georgian-Russian border for increased quality checks.
