How Customs Officials Resolved the Turmoil at the Armenian-Georgian Border

At the request of the Armenian State Revenue Committee, the Georgian side has engaged additional resources to handle the queues that formed at the Armenian-Georgian border during the holiday period. This information was provided by the Customs Control Department of the SRC in response to a written inquiry from Sputnik Armenia.

On December 31, we reported that huge queues had formed near the Bagratashen border checkpoint. The traffic jams stretched for kilometers. Eyewitnesses reported that residents of border villages were offering to help those looking to bypass the main road (using routes unknown to Yerevan residents) and join the queue closer to the border. For this, the “helpers” were charging certain amounts of money.

“The congestion at border crossing points during the holiday period was not related to the work of customs control. The border crossing process involves bilateral control and operations, meaning the duration of this process depends on the actions of officials conducting control services on both sides of the border. However, the issue has been discussed operationally with the Georgian side, and they have engaged additional resources at our request to expedite the handling of this unprecedented passenger flow,” the SRC stated in its response.

The committee clarified that they cannot provide data on how many people crossed the Armenian-Georgian border during the holidays (from December 30 to January 4), as that information falls under the jurisdiction of the National Security Service’s border control structures. They reminded that according to the EAEU customs code, personal vehicles registered in member states are not subject to customs declaration. When transporting individuals across the Armenian customs border, only the luggage of those vehicles is subjected to customs control.

It should be noted that the border crossing points of the Republic of Armenia are manned by the National Security Service's border troops and the customs authorities of the SRC.