15 New Lanes Put into Operation at the Upper Lars Checkpoint

The Deputy Head of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, Ashot Muradyan, visited the Russian Federation on June 21 to participate in the inauguration ceremony for the newly reconstructed traffic lanes at the Upper Lars multi-purpose automobile checkpoint in Vladikavkaz, as well as to discuss issues related to increasing the checkpoint's capacity. This was reported by the State Revenue Committee.

As part of the visit, the Deputy Head of the State Revenue Committee met with the Acting Head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Ruslan Davidov. Also participating in the meeting were the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Armen Simonian, and the Customs Attaché of the Armenian Embassy in Russia, Vahan Hakobyan.

During the meeting, various issues were discussed concerning the increase of the Upper Lars checkpoint's capacity, as well as the prevention of vehicle congestion and queues. Specifically, on June 15, 15 new lanes were put into operation, bringing the total number of lanes to 39, of which 12 are for freight trucks (6 entrances and 6 exits), 24 for light passenger vehicles (12 entrances and 12 exits), 2 for passenger buses, and 1 for oversized cargo. As a result of the launch of the new lanes, the checkpoint's capacity has already increased by 30%, with an average of about 1300 trucks being processed daily, which has led to the elimination of queues on both sides of the checkpoint.

The parties also reached an agreement on operational cooperation among relevant officials to ensure the stable capacity of the Upper Lars checkpoint. Specifically, a process has begun for the exchange of X-ray scanning results of cargo, which allows the Armenian side's X-ray scanning results to be used during inspections carried out by the Russian side, potentially leading to a faster clearance of cargo.

Earlier, on June 7 of this year, a meeting took place between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, during which the parties agreed to jointly address the existing issues at the Upper Lars multi-purpose automobile checkpoint.