Georgia gives Armenia half-price discount for transport of grain by rail

Armenia and Georgia have agreed to a 52 per cent discount on the transport of grain by railway.

The Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology of Armenia Ashot Hakobyan announced that the discount came into effect on 1 September.

This is important for Armenia given that, starting on 15 September, Georgia intends to ban all transport of grain on its territory by other, regular land vehicles. This applies to all countries. In Armenia, many are afraid that this would lead to a price hike in bread. The new agreement between the two countries aims to solve this problem.

Ashot Hakobyan stated that this large discount will allow Armenian shippers to save 24 dollars per tonne of grain shipped:

“Moreover, we are continuing negotiations with Georgia to specify the provisions of their law regarding the admissibility of the use of motor vehicles in certain cases. In particular, we want to specify just what cases they mean and how this may affect Armenia.”