TBILISI, October 1 – Starting today, Russian customs has introduced a new booking system for trucks crossing the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgia–Russia border.
The system requires truck drivers to reserve a specific date and time before arriving at the terminal. Reservations can be made through the state electronic documentation portal, and the process will be coordinated by Rosgranstrans, a subsidiary of Russia’s Ministry of Transport.
Upper Lars is the only functioning land crossing between Georgia and Russia. It also serves as a vital route for freight traffic linking Russia with Armenia and Turkey. The crossing is notorious for long lines of trucks, especially during peak trade seasons. Bad weather frequently makes the situation worse, and in winter the road is often shut down for days at a time.
Authorities say the new “electronic queue” is meant to reduce congestion. A similar system was introduced at Upper Lars in August 2022, but it only assigned serial numbers to vehicles and allowed drivers to monitor their place in line. That earlier version did not let carriers book a fixed time slot for crossing the border.
The Upper Lars border crossing forms a vital life line for landlocked Armenia and is also a key trade route for Turkey. Over 1.5 million tons of cargo pass through the crucial Caucasus transport corridor annually, according to Georgia’s Ministry of Finance.
