ARMENIA RAISED CUSTOMS PAYMENTS FOR PASSENGER VEHICLES FROM JAVAKHETIA

PanARMENIAN.Net - Since May 1 the passenger vehicles arriving in Armenia from the Armenian-populated Georgian region of Javakhetia should pay 37 thousand drams instead of former 21 thousand as a customs payments, A-info agency reported. Yesterday mini bases conveying people from Javakhetia to Armenia were kept at the Armenian customs point of Bavra at the Armenian-Georgian border for about 5 hours. The Armenian customs officers said that for entering Armenia a special interparliamentary agreement or 37 thousand AMD entry payment is needed. Such a demand aroused the indignation of the drivers and passengers, as the rise in tariffs will immediately tell on the social conditions of the Armenians of Javakhetia. It should be noted that at the end of 2004 the Georgian parliament adopted a new tax code providing for lower taxes imposed on the foreign citizens at entering Georgia. (The maximal payment is fixed at 10 Laris)