Trucks with Armenian cognac stuck at Upper Lars checkpoint “Response” to Yerevan’s ratification of Rome Statute

Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan has said that road carriers transporting cargo from Armenia to Russia are encountering problems at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border.

According to the Russian side, the quality of cognac which is supplied to the Russian Federation is being checked. As a result, dozens of trucks were stuck at Upper Lars, Caliber.Az reports citing the Georgian media.

Commercial attache of the Armenian embassy in Russia Vahan Hakobyan has said that 60 cars are in a traffic jam.

“The Russian customs officers have been checking the quality of cognacs imported from Armenia since March-April 2023 because counterfeit cognacs were revealed. The control was intensified a few days ago. If previously specific exporters or importers were checked, now the quality of all cognac coming from Armenia is checked,” Hakobyan noted.

Suppliers of Armenian cognac may have problems at the border due to the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation’s claims. A warning signed by deputy head of Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, Elena Afanasenko, was published earlier by former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Sergey Aleksashenko.

The need to stop the circulation and purchase of three brands of cognac - “Armenian Cognac AVZ”, “Armenian Fortress 8 years” and “Armenian Cognac 5 years” was outlined in the document. The experts revealed flavourings, phenolic compounds, as well as alcohols of “non-cognac origin” there.

According to The Moscow Times, problems with cognac suppliers arose amid Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute, the main document regulating the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant for President Putin in March.