Agarak Checkpoint Overwhelmed by Taxi Drivers

Auroranews has received complaints from drivers, this time regarding an issue in the Syunik region. Specifically, the drivers report that there is an uncontrollable situation at the Agarak checkpoint. Both individual drivers and online taxi drivers from Yerevan are going to the checkpoint to pick up passengers, but they are facing problems.

There is a company that operates passenger transport on site, and drivers coming from Yerevan are waiting for days to see when their turn will come. The taxi drivers point out that disputes and various conversations arise at the Agarak checkpoint. The flow of people coming from Iran is significant, therefore, there is a problem of regulating the situation.

Auroranews contacted the Syunik regional administration, which referred to a statement by Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasyan made four days ago. According to the directive of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, small and medium-sized buses are transporting people to Yerevan at a standard rate from near the Armenia-Iran border checkpoint. This decision was made after taxi services charged unreasonably high fees from those arriving from Iran.

Governor Robert Ghukasyan stated that there have not been any human congestion at the checkpoint up to this point, and the flow of people crossing the border is within normal volumes. However, there has been the well-known story related to taxis. “An artificial price formation occurred, which was unacceptable. Therefore, after discussing with our partners, we decided that there would be small and medium buses that are already operating. The buses are already at customs, and it is written in Persian that one seat costs around 12,000 drams. People can board and travel to Yerevan,” Ghukasyan said.

The governor clarified that among those crossing the border are also individuals who were working in Iran and needed to return to their countries. However, since Iran's airspace is closed, they must travel by land through Armenia to reach the Zvartnots Airport and then continue to their countries from there. Analyzing the situation, esteemed drivers, it may have become pointless to travel from Yerevan to Agarak for passenger transport at this moment.