Spayka Confirms Over 100 Trucks Stranded in Russia
Spayka, Armenia's largest freight transportation company, has officially confirmed to Azatutyun that over 100 of their trucks have been stranded in Russia for several days. Karen Baghdasaryan, the company's director of development, stated that their lawyers are already in Russia trying to understand the reasons behind the blockade.
“We have not been officially informed about what the issue is. The point is that the trucks have been stopped without any justification, and we don’t know where exactly they are located; they have simply been halted,” Baghdasaryan said.
Founded 24 years ago, Spayka not only handles freight transport to the CIS and EEU countries but also exports the produce from its own orchards. A company representative noted that this is the first time in these years that they have faced such a problem.
The rapidly perishable goods, such as agricultural products, in the trucks have been allowed to be transported by local vehicles to recipients. However, the movement of Spayka's trucks has been blocked. “In all Russian cities where the trucks were, all vehicles were stopped within a day or two and were told that ‘the trucks will not move. If you have cargo inside, you can transfer it to other vehicles and deliver it to the recipients.’ The drivers are waiting for further instructions and are also assisting in organizing the delivery of the loads to the recipients,” Baghdasaryan explained.
There has been no information on Russian official or news websites regarding why Armenia's largest exporting company is encountering such issues in a country where it has transported goods and collaborated with some of the largest retail networks for years. The relevant authorities in Armenia have also remained silent.
Baghdasaryan stated that they have reached out to the competent authority, the Ministry of Economy, to inform them of the situation. “But since we do not have any further information, we have merely notified them,” added the Spayka representative. “We are aware that they are also interested in this issue, but they do not have any additional information yet.”