YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. A meeting of transport ministers of member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) took place in Yerevan on March 27. Out of the 12 BSEC member states, only two - Albania and Azerbaijan did not participate in the meeting presided over by Armenia for the first time. The RA Minister of Transport and Communication Gurgen Sargsyan told reporters that issues related to construction of the BSEC Ring Highway, development of Motorways of the Sea in the Black Sea region, and facilitation of cargo transportation in the region were discussed at the meeting. The problem of constructing North-South Highway was also on the agenda. Despite the participation of the Turkish minister in the meeting, according to G. Sargsyan, it is not planned to discuss the possibility of opening Armenian-Turkish border. The Deputy Head of Foreign Relations Department of the ministry Arthur Sargsyan said the memorandum on construction of Ring Highway in the Black Sea region was signed by BSEC member states in 2007 and took effect on November 1, 2008. The Technical Secretariat operating within the program's framework distributed questionnaires to all the member states, and their summarizing in the near future will allow drawing a map of Ring Highway, with all the roads (operating and to be built) being included. They must be in line with the minimum European standards, in particular, be covered with asphalt and have a minimum width of 6 meters. It was mentioned that there are no such roads in Armenia. According to A. Sargsyan, another two memorandums (on sea motorways in the region and facilitation of cargo transportation) are in circulation within the BSEC's framework. The latter one envisages a simplified order of granting a visa to drivers of trucks and has been signed so far by 4 member states, including Armenia.

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