Days agoEuromedia24.comThe correspondent of the newspaper filmed two Chinese-made buses traveling from Gyumri to Yerevan with Turkish license plates.
We contacted Hayk Kostanyan, the spokesperson of the Yerevan Municipality, who did not know whether the buses were for Yerevan, promised to check and call, but the phone call never happened.
Today we also contacted Kostanyan, who in response to our question said: "Yes, the two buses are already in Yerevan, the rest will come one by one." To our question, why were the buses with Turkish license plates, Kostanyan answered: "Probably they came through the transit zone, that's why they come from China to the Port of Poti and then to Yerevan."
Of course, Mr. Kostanyan's answer could not but raise new questions. The port of Poti is located in Georgia, and the buses do not need to cross the Turkish border to transport from there to Yerevan. In addition, for example, in the case of importing a car from the USA, Japan and other countries, transit license plates are not changed in Georgia.
After our call, Hayk Kostanyan publishes a photo on his Facebook page and writes:
"Continuing the good news on transport.
There are also 20 new 8.6-meter buses in Yerevan."
We are informed from the Ministry of Finance's procurement website that on April 12, 2024, Yerevan Municipality signed a 6 billion 300 million AMD contract with "ZHONGTONG BUS HOLDING CO." with a Chinese company. The contract states that the company will sell 171 Zhongtong buses to Yerevan Municipality. A little later, the mayor's press secretary Hayk Kostanyan confirmed that these are the buses depicted in the photo and that there are already 20 of them in Yerevan. However, it was not clear what the purpose of the Turkish license plates on the buses of the Chinese company is.
In fact, the law enforcement officers do not care that the buses with Turkish license plates, which are supposed to serve Yerevan, were purchased from China and strangely entered Armenia with Turkish license plates.
