19:27, 18 January 2018

Armenian government approves ban on importing right-hand-drive cars

Motor rally in Yerevan against government ban on the imports of right-hand-drive cars, Yerevan, January 2018. Photo by Tigran Petrosyan for the Caucasian Knot.

The Armenian Cabinet of Ministers has supported the bill banning the imports of cars with the right-hand steering wheel for the period from April 1 to October 1.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the proposal of the Armenia's Ministry of Transports to ban the imports of right-hand-drive cars and re-register the already imported ones caused discontent of car owners. After on January 7, about a thousand protesters held a motor rally in Yerevan, the government gave up the re-registration idea. On January 12, car dealers demanded to reject the ban on imports of right-hand-drive cars, but the govt's spokesman ruled out such measure.

At today's sitting, the Cabinet has approved the bill "On temporary ban on imports of right-hand drive motor vehicles", which sets the ban from April 1 to October 1, 2018, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Vahan Martirosyan, the Minister of Transports, Communications and Information Technologies, has explained the ban by road safety issues. "Right-hand-drive cars pose a threat to road traffic and increase the risk of road accidents," he said.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent