Following new immigration legislation allowing Armenians to stay in Russia visa-free for only 90 days as opposed to 180, Armenian lorry drivers are experiencing increasing difficulties, including facing deportations or entry bans.
A group of Armenian lorry drivers told RFE/RL on Monday that tens of drivers had already been ‘blacklisted’ for violating the 90-day limit for visa-free stay in Russia.
Previously, Armenians could stay in Russia without a visa for 180 days, but the law was changed last year and established a cap on visa-free stays in Russia for all countries with the relevant allowance. It came into force at the beginning of 2025. Those who overstay can be subject to deportation and a three-year entry ban.
One driver told RFE/RL that he had seen ‘20 to 30’ other Armenian lorry drivers being added to a blacklist at an immigration centre in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia.
Another told RFE/RL that he thought perhaps as many as 90% of Armenian lorry drivers had already reached their 90-day limit.
‘We don’t know if we will be able to drive to Russia again’, a driver told RFE/RL.
‘It’s not that we go there for migrant work. We go in and get out’.
The Armenian government has refrained from commenting on the issue of blacklists.
Aside from the changes in immigration laws, Armenian lorry drivers have faced a number of challenges working in Russia in recent months, as well as in Georgia, which they have to cross to get into Russia.
In September, Armenia’s largest freight company Spayka said that 100 of its lorries had been stalled in Russia for several days. At the time, Spayka said that it was an unprecedented issue for the 24-year-old company, which imports a number of goods to Russia and other countries in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
Prior to that, a number of Armenian lorries reported being denied entry into Russia, with various reasons being offered, including tax evasion and failing sanitary conditions.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
