Business at the Customs Area: Moving a Car Costs 5000 Drams

Journalist Hayk Hovhannisyan raised an alarm on his Facebook page: "I was in Gyumri yesterday. I was clearing my car through customs. Everything was very fast and without any hassle. The issues of lost or stolen keys were resolved quickly. However, there is a problem that many are mentioning. So, you arrive at the customs zone, and it turns out that the car you need to take out is located deep inside, and there are about 4-5 other vehicles in front of it, all damaged and unable to be moved. There are about 10 tow trucks driving around in that area, moving cars that cannot be driven. Now, here’s what happened right before my eyes. We went a little to one side for five minutes and came back to find another car in front of ours—just freshly added. One by one, we approached the drivers of all the tow trucks and asked, 'Did you drop this car here?' The answer was invariably 'no.' Now, I say, 'Brother, there are ten of you, and all ten say they haven’t dropped it; then who did?' There was no answer. After an hour of running around, a person came and said, 'I can solve this issue for you—price is 5000 drams.' It turns out these tow truck drivers are making money this way: it costs 5000 drams to move a car. The tow truck driver said, 'You’re lucky; the other day we paid 20000 drams to get our car out.' Dear Lusine Mkrtchyan and Shushan Nersisyan, this issue certainly falls under your domain. Yesterday, I saw five people in front of me paying 5000 drams each so that we could get our cars out."

Auroranews has also received numerous reports that the practice of selling car queue spots at the Gyumri customs continues. A driver who spent the night on the road to the customs in Gyumri noted that individuals approaching drivers, marked with taxi or tourism service signs, in various vehicles with white license plates offer their services to hold a place in line for a certain fee.

Following the alarm, Auroranews spoke with Ashot Aharonyan, head of the Police Public Relations Department. Aharonyan stated that police local units will regulate the issue. He called upon citizens to report such incidents by calling 1-02, as this is the only way to build a legal state.

It is worth noting that the head of the State Revenue Committee, Davit Ananyan, previously confirmed that citizens were selling places in line to each other: "Yes, our citizens were using their ingenuity. They had come up with a new business. They would come with their cars, remove the license plates, stand in line overnight and sell their spot to others in the morning. We alerted our partners in the police, and the police quickly regulated this issue. I think such a thing does not happen now."