OREANDA-NEWS. May 20, 2010. TransContainer and Apaven (the agent in the Republic of Armenia) have developed a multi-modal logistics chain to move cargoes between Russia and the Republic of Armenia via Verhni Lars-Kazbegi, the border crossing on the Russian-Georgian border, the press service of the container operator said.

The first two 20-foot containers came to Yerevan from Omsk on May 20th. They were moved by the rail in Russia and were reloaded to the trucks at the Transcontainer’s terminal in Vladikavkaz. Then these cargoes were sent further to the destination point via the Upper Lars. The containers were moved by the Georgian roads at a height of 2,000 kilometres above the sea.

It took 19 days to deliver the containers from Omsk to Yerevan via Vladikavkaz, which is 3 weeks less than through the ports of Southern Russia.

Anatoly Kolobkov, the Director of the North-Caucasian railway branch said that container transportation via Verkhni Lars has a high economic and political importance for the partnership ties between Russia and Armenia. The preliminary estimations are that the container traffic there may be about 200 TEU per month at the first stage, and it is expected to grow. It is a new achievement in multimodal transport service, and its success will enable Transcontainer to develop new alternative routes to deliver cargoes in the Middle East, including Iran, and to provide the full range of freight forwarding services, including delivery to the client's warehouses.