TARIFFS FOR RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION OF ARMENIAN LOADS THROUGH GEORGIAN TERRITORY UNDERWENT NO CHANGES

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fluctuating within the limits of $16 for a ton the tariffs for transporting the Armenian loads through the Georgian territory did not change in 2004 as compared to last year, general director of Apaven shipping company Gagik Agajanian told Arminfo agency. Commenting on Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's statement made when he was still a contender for the post and saying that tariffs for the transit of the Armenian loads on the Georgian railway are unwarrantably high and there is a possibility to halve them, G. Agajanian noted that "everything is possible", however progress in this direction has not been fixed yet. To remind, in his interview to the Public Armenian Television granted November 30, 2003, Saakashvili stated the tariffs of the Georgian railway for the Armenian cargoes as unwarrantably high. In his words, the new Georgian government will first of all lower the tariffs, which were set too high "because of the corruption in the sphere". In Saakashvili's opinion, the high prices for ferry transportation over the Black Sea through Batumi-Poti-Ilichevsk are conditioned by the same reason.