Last year, in the article "Armenia, by launching a ferry from Poti to the port of "Kavkaz" (Krasnodar region of Russia), wants to legitimise the occupation of both the Ukrainian Crimea and Georgian Abkhazia, with "Armenianisation" of the latter" (http://kavkazplus.com/news.php?id=34086 ), Kavkazplus already wrote about the persistent intention of Armenia to use the aggression of Russia against Ukraine and Georgia.

On one hand, Armenia wants to get the transit of goods by sea to Russia, "past" Abkhazia which is rapidly becoming the "seaside Armenia". On the other hand, Yerevan wants to use for this purpose ferry communication with the Russian port of Kavkaz. This port and the port of Krym, which is situated on the other side of the Kerch Strait, were used for ferry communication with Ukrainian Crimea when it was not yet occupied.

Pressure on Georgia from Armenia to "launch the Port Kavkaz ferry" is becoming more and more insistent.  The Georgian state authorities are forced to react to this. For example, the Georgian Maritime Transport Agency has issued an official statement regarding Armenia, stating the following:

"Georgia's transit corridor continues to operate in congested mode. Despite the fact that the relevant state authorities are working continuously, 24 hours a day, the management of cargo flows is significantly complicated.

The Zemo Lars border crossing point between Armenia and Russia is the only linking land point where, due to congestion, processing of transit cargo is often delayed for several weeks, which creates significant problems for the Republic of Armenia in case of perishable products and foodstuff, as well as essential goods.

Based on these problems, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has requested the Government of Georgia to consider maritime transport as an alternative to the Lars border crossing, which would handle Armenian transit cargo for food and perishable products, as well as essential commodities.

The landlocked Republic of Armenia has traditionally used Georgian ports and engaged in international trade.

In this regard, it is indicative that Georgia is a party to the International Convention "On the Transit Trade of Landlocked States". According to this convention, landlocked States must have free access to the sea and be on an equal footing with coastal States in order to enjoy free access to the sea"., — says the statement.

There is no specific mention of transit to the Caucasus port, but it is emphasised that Armenia already uses and can continue to use Georgian ports. And Georgia itself does not intend to interfere with maritime transit to Armenia. However, Armenia's use of the Kavkaz port, which was originally intended to connect Russia with the now occupied Ukrainian Crimea, is a violation of sanctions that were imposed on Russia because of its aggression against Ukraine. And it was not Georgia that drew attention to this, but a Dutch company - the operator of the port of Poti.

A regular ferry service between the Georgian port of Poti and the Russian port of Kavkaz had already been scheduled to run between the ports of Poti and Kavkaz on 15 June 2022. The project envisaged two, and eventually three ferries with a frequency of 2-3 times a week (depending on load). However, on 17 June 2022 the Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said that it was "postponed for technical reasons".

"We are very close to starting a ferry service between the port of Poti and the port of Kavkaz, there are a few technical and bureaucratic issues to sort out, which will be resolved in the next few days." — The head of Armenia's economic ministry argued in an interview with Sputnik Armenia at the time.

According to him, when all the issues, including those with ferries that were under Western sanctions, were resolved, other issues arose that took longer to resolve. Kerobyan explained that the Port of Poti is operated by a Dutch transport firm, which must obtain permission from its parent company to give the green light to the ferry service (the port is operated by APM Terminals Poti, which is a 'subsidiary' of one of the world's largest port operators APM Terminals, headquartered in The Hague).

Vahan Kerobyan then stressed that despite the difficulties encountered, the Armenian side "is persistent in launching regular ferry services. At the same time, he also announced a plan "B" in case if the company from the Netherlands does not issue a permit. Then the ferry will be launched from Batumi port, the minister explained, without specifying that the Batumi port is run by a Kazakhstani company. And it is not a fact that Kazakhstan will not remember the "friendliness" shown to it by representatives of the "most ancient people", the Armenian lobby in Moscow, starting with the spouses Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan.

However, not just a few days have passed, but almost a month, but the Dutch have not given permission to violate sanctions against Russia by allowing the ferry service. As a result, Armenian pressure is already on the Georgian authorities to "persuade" the Dutch company to allow ferry traffic to the Kavkaz port. And apparently it is beginning to take on the form of blackmail, since the Georgian Maritime Transport Agency has been forced to issue an official statement.

From the statement of the Agency it follows that Georgia does not impede maritime communication of Armenia with other countries through Georgian ports. That is, all Armenian claims against Georgia are groundless.

Yerevan should ask more questions to its lobby in Moscow, which in fact has done everything to draw Russia into aggression against Ukraine by supporting separatism. After all, one should not forget that the annexation of Crimea was greeted 'with cheers' by Armenian nationalists.

In principle, in the long term, there may not be any problems with transit for Armenia either by land or sea. But the Armenian lobby needs to do what it can to make this happen:

1) To end the occupation of Ukrainian and Georgian territories by the Russian Federation, especially since these occupations were largely carried out at his instigation

2) Stop supporting separatism and illegal armed groups on foreign territories and normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Then the borders will open, and Armenia will not only have no problems with transit, but can earn money on it. Meanwhile, with its intrigues, resulting in bloody wars and occupations, Armenia has driven itself into a "trap". And it cannot demand assistance in illegal transit from the country that has suffered most from the intrigues of Armenian nationalists.

Grigol Giorgadze