The regular operation of the newly-built Caucasus-Poti ferry-boat continue being delayed. Let’s remind that about a month and a half ago the boat made its tentative route and ten days ago the five locomotives of the “Armenian railways” rented from Russia were transported from Caucasus port to Poti port. That wasn’t enough. The “Reserve Capital Corporation” transported the locomotives for free, as a sign of friendship.
Later, it was found out this was done for free not because of insatiable love to Armenia. The thing is that the company, which operates the ferryboat, brought up quite serious conditions to the Armenian side. First, the Reserve Capital Corporation decided to set a quite high fee for the cargo transportation, despite the fact that the CEO of the corporation, Khakim Matchanov, announced in Armenia that their services would be incomparably cheaper than all the other available ones. Moreover, this is not the worst condition proposed by the corporation. The freights of Armenia are transported at high prices anyway. The most unacceptable condition proposed by the Reserve Capital Corporation is that it wants to control all the transporting services of Armenia. This means it wants to have the monopoly of cargo transportation in the region. The corporation is going to use the railway services of Armenia and Georgia. If the cargo is to be transported by trucks, the corporation will hardly use the Armenian trucks. Most probably it will probably use its technical means. This is, mildly said, a very dangerous proposal for Armenia because the corporation may at any time not only raise the fees but also go for a prophylactic break or a vacation. Moreover, they may break even the most crucial provisions of the contract if Russia really needs that. So Russia will have another lever to politically press on Armenia if necessary. Besides this, the access of the Reserve Capital Corporation into the Armenian market may put into doubt the activity of the local cargo transporting companies, which to a certain extent are developed in our country. If the Armenian government agrees to cooperate with the Reserve Capital Corporation, then the local companies will be shut down very soon. The saddest thing is that our government will hardly be able to refuse Russia, as it’s known that others just can’t say “no” to our Russian friends, especially when cash is offered.