Azerbaijan May Set High Fees at Checkpoints or Ban the Transportation of Certain Goods, Says Sargsyan

The establishment of Armenian checkpoints on the Goris-Kapan highway will not yield any results. These are simply absurd statements meant to prevent public unrest. In an interview with Faktinfo, the President of the Chamber of Auditors, Nairi Sargsyan, expressed this opinion.

According to Sargsyan, the Azerbaijani checkpoint in this section could have two impacts. The first is related to the movement of undesirable persons for Azerbaijan through this area. Sargsyan is concerned that Armenians who express public opinions regarding Azerbaijanis might face serious problems, including arrest, while passing through.

The second impact is economic. In such cases, customs procedures dictate that there is a transit cargo passage where customs clearance does not occur. There could be various fees, for example, a road fee could be imposed, which might be significantly high. Today, we do not have any mechanisms for checks and balances; that is, we do not have control over any Azerbaijani border that would allow us to reach compromise solutions,” Sargsyan stated, adding that Azerbaijan can do whatever it wishes.

Road fees can be quite high, and they could simply ban the transportation of specific cargoes through this area. For instance, in the case of importing wheat from Iran to Armenia, they could just prohibit the transportation of cargo through this route, which would naturally lead to dangerous consequences for Armenia.

Sargsyan notes that if alternative roads are constructed with tunnels, bridges, and comfort comparable to this road, then perhaps the economic risks will be somewhat mitigated, but at this point, even with great desire, trucks cannot pass through those alternative routes. “There is no option to pass through there. The road is very bad; I have seen it myself. Even regular passenger cars need to reverse several times to make a turnaround,” Sargsyan said.

According to him, Azerbaijan can create obstacles for cargo transportation at any time. It is possible that one day they will decide that specific types of goods cannot be transported through this route for a month or even longer. “There will be turmoil in the country. People may face hunger. Such dangerous consequences could arise from the presence of checkpoints. Furthermore, history has shown that Azerbaijanis are capable of anything. They could place some prohibited items or details in a truck during a customs inspection, supposedly 'discover' them, and the decision for the person's arrest is already prepared. This can happen to anyone,” Sargsyan added.