Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosian and Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrzad Bazrpash announced the agreement after talks held in Yerevan on Monday.
“The idea is to nullify all payments [for road use] for both Iranian trucks travelling to Armenia or using Armenia as a transit route and Armenian trucks entering Iran … and to help that business develop more successfully,” Sanosian told reporters.
“When we abolish the road tolls, goods will reach consumers at a lower cost,” Bazrpash said, for his part.
Armenia currently charges Iranians truck using its highways roughly $250 for every journey to or through the South Caucasus country. Armenian hauliers pay a similar sum in Iran.
The governments of the two neighboring states have for years discussed the possibility of mutual abolition of the truck tolls. The two ministers did not say when the agreement to that effect reached by them will be put into practice. It requires amendments to their tax legislations.
According to Armenian government data, Armenia’s trade with Iran rose by 6 percent year on year to almost $454 million in the first eight months of this year. Iranian exports to Armenia accounted for as much as 85 percent of that figure, suggesting that the scrapping of the tax will primarily benefit Iranian firms.
Cargo traffic between the two states is carried out through Syunik, the sole Armenian region bordering the Islamic Republic. Two Iranian companies were formally contracted by the Armenian government on Monday to rebuild a 32-kilometer section of the region’s main highway leading to the Iranian border. Sanosian and Bazrpash attended the signing of the contract worth $215 million.