Over thousand Armenian trucks stuck on Russian-Georgian border

Over a thousand Armenian trucks are waiting for passage through the “Upper Lars” multilateral checkpoint, both from the Georgian and Russian sides of the border.

The remarks came from Vahan Hakobyan, Customs Attaché of the Armenian embassy in Russia, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenia media.

The road through Upper Lars was closed on the evening of March 3 due to unfavourable weather conditions.

"Traffic across the Lars in both directions is still prohibited for all types of vehicles. It is snowing on the Gudauri-Kobi section and traffic is restricted on the Tbilisi-Gudauri section due to the danger of snowstorms," Hakobyan said.

The attache said that a total of 1,000 Armenian trucks (4,000 heavy goods vehicles from various countries in total) are waiting to pass through Lars on the Russian side. From 150 to 200 heavy goods vehicles have left Armenia and have not yet crossed the border into Russia.

According to experts, the situation will change after the Georgian side completes an ambitious project - the construction of the longest tunnel in the region leading to the Upper Lars border crossing.

It is about a 9-km tunnel under the Krestovi Pass, which is part of an avalanche-prone (Gudauri-Kobi) bypass on the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Lars road. The project envisages the construction of a 23 km two-lane concrete road, five bridges and five tunnels.

Once the project is completed in 2024, vehicles will reach Stepantsminda (at the border with Russian) in 1 hour and 45 minutes (currently 2 hours and 30 minutes). As a result, this will ensure uninterrupted vehicle traffic throughout the year.