Georgian PM’s special representative for relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze said that the major topic of discussions during the meeting with the Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin, which will be held on May 24 in Prague, will be the implementation of the 2011 Georgia-Russia agreement on neutral monitoring of customs which envisages the setting up of a mechanism of customs administration and the monitoring of regional trade by third parties.
Russia and Georgia have agreed that Swiss company SGS will carry out the monitoring activities, Agenda.ge reported.
According to the agreement, monitoring will cover three‘trade corridors’ between Russia and Georgia. The Swiss company will monitor cargo traffic for both sides and report to the government of Georgia and Russia at the same time.
"Georgia signed the contract with the Swiss company at the end of last year, the Russian government did the same on May 18. We hope that Russia will honestly fulfill its obligations under the 2011 agreement,"Abashidze said, adding that a Georgian-Russian-Swiss joint working group could be set up to monitor the project’s practical implementation.
