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Armenian exporters suffer significant losses due to queues at the Upper Lars crossing on the Russian-Georgian border, which serves as Armenia’s sole overland trade route to Russia, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said on Thursday.

“We are working to restore the traffic capacity at the Upper Lars checkpoint as quickly as possible and ensure the quick passage of cargo,” he told parliamentary debates on the 2023 draft state budget.

The Russian authorities tightened control at the Lars checkpoint following the Crimean bridge explosion, leading to fresh queues at the border crossing.

Kerobyan noted that he asked the Russian minister of economic development to solve the problem as soon as possible when the latter visited Yerevan in October. The Russian official promised to deal with the issue, he added.

"No timeframes were unveiled, but, obviously, the settlement of the issue is also in Russia’s interests and they, too, are highly interested in the soonest restoration of the Lars capacity,” Kerobyan said.