“Right now, the economic blockade imposed on us by European countries is being breached in Zemo Lars,“ said the Acting Head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Ruslan Davidov, who visited the Zemo Lars (Verkhny Lars) checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border.
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Today, Zemo Lars is the only functioning border crossing that connects Russia with Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and other countries. According to Russian data, from June 15 of this year, after additional control lanes for trucks became operational, an average of 1200 trucks have been crossing the checkpoint each day, while before the reconstruction this number was less than a thousand. For example, on June 19, there were 1322 crossings in both directions in 24 hours, which is a record number that exceeds the daily average by 15%.
“This is an absolute record not just for this, but for any checkpoint. Apart from this, 2800 light vehicles and 11 000 people, tourists, have crossed. When everything is finished here, we will able to sustain these numbers steadily. Our goal is to make this the norm. If the pass is closed, we won't be able to do anything and the pass will be closed for the winter, so we should probably all think about an alternative route from Russia to Georgia. Customs is always the last to leave during the conflict and first to come back after the dust settles,” stated Davidov.
According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, drivers are not impeded on Zemo Lars anymore and 12 trucks can cross the border simultaneously. A light vehicle crosses the border every minute, and a truck – every two minutes. The agency points out that the Zemo Lars checkpoint is a strategically important element of the International North–South Transport Corridor.
“We can transport 15 million tons of cargo through the North-South corridor. During five and a half months of last year, customs officers within the jurisdiction of the North Caucasus Customs Department handled 5.6 million tons of cargo in both directions and 7.8 million tons already this year. I think this year’s volume will surpass 15 million tons. We have a more than 20% increase in trade exchange at Zemo Lars alone,’’ said Ruslan Davidov.
The Russian government is realizing a project of Zemo Lars checkpoint modernization, within which the number of lanes near the Georgian border has been increased to 39 to accommodate the traffic.
The Georgian government, which maintains trade and economic relations with Russia amid the war in Ukraine, has not commented on this matter, while Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for improving the capacity of Zemo Lars. According to him, this issue was always on the agenda of his discussions with Putin and the Russian government.
