ArmInfo. Russia regards the implementation of the agreement on customs regulation in 2011 positively. This was stated on January 30 in an interview with journalists in Yereavna by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, referring to the implementation of the Russian-Georgian agreement of 2011 and the question of how realistic is its implementation this year.
"We intend to implement the commitments we have undertaken," said Karasin, stressing that a meeting of the tripartite committee with the participation of Switzerland, represented by SGS, and which will implement this project, and representatives of Georgia and the Russian Federation will probably take place soon. "We have already scheduled a date in February, the meeting will take place in Geneva. After that, we will try to logistically calculate the sequence of steps and begin the implementation of the process. I expect that this project will provide an opportunity to open another transit corridor for goods from Armenia," Karasin stressed.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also noted that this is still a complex issue, as there are disagreements in the region about the political status of a number of states. "There is a Republic of South Ossetia through which the corridor must pass. All these are very sensitive issues, and we will discuss them with the Georgians and the Swiss, and, of course, we will fully inform our Armenian partners about this," Karasin concluded.
To note, in 2011, a Georgian-Russian agreement was signed between Georgia and Russia on the basic principles of the mechanism of customs administration and monitoring of trade in goods, which removed Tbilisi's claims on Russia regarding its accession to the WTO. It includes two documents - on customs administration and the basic principles of the commodity turnover monitoring mechanism, as well as a memorandum of understanding with the approval of the role of Switzerland as a third neutral party.
To recall, there is no diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia after the 2008 war. After the change of government in Georgia in 2012, Tbilisi re-examined the agreement signed by the previous government. Then the parties again agreed on the details.