Russian Foreign Ministry “astonished” by Protest on Customs Agreement

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Georgia has no ground to protest the Customs agreement between the Russian-occupied territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. 

“The protest expressed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, about the Russian-Abkhazian and Russian- South Ossetian cooperation in the customs field, has astonished us. Instead of unreasonable criticism of cooperation between Russia and the third states, the November 9, 2011 agreement on Customs Administration and Monitoring between Georgia and Russia had to be carefully studied. According to the last public comments of Georgian officials, they are not familiar with the text of this document. Soon we will have to fulfil it under the control of a Swiss Monitoring company, with which Georgia has already signed a relevant contract,” the statement on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry reads. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry also added that "the Russian side will soon complete preparation of necessary Russian-Swiss documents. This will enable us to implement practical realization of the 2011 agreement, which is so important for regional trade.” 

Georgia and Russia signed the agreement on the Cargo Monitoring Movement on November 9, 2011, in Geneva, with the participation of Switzerland. The agreement envisages the carrying out of monitoring of cargo movement through three “trade corridors”, two of which run through the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the third one on the Zemo Larsi-Kazbegi border crossing point on the undisputed section of the Georgia-Russia border.

By Tom Day