Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend E.Huseynov / On the 7th of June the next echelon with the Russian military arms was sent from Georgia to Russia via the territory of Azerbaijan. It is already the fifth echelon which has been sent from Georgia to Russia since May. The echelon comprised of 35 platforms and carriages - property of Russian Troops in Caucasus (GRTC), which is withdrawn from Georgia. The carriages comprised of 5 tanks, 44 units of armor equipment and spare parts of material-technical property, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia informed by telephone.
An agreement on the transportation of echelons to Russia through the rail links of Azerbaijan was reached last year at Inter-Governmental level. By the end of the year, 14 Russian echelons will be withdrawn from Georgia. Five echelons will be sent to Armenia to the 102nd Russian military base in Gurmy city. According to the information provided by the Defence Ministry of Russia, the 62nd Russian military base in Akhalkalaki should be closed by the end of 2007 and the 12th Russian military base in Batumi within 2008.
Earlier the Deputy Defense Minister of Russia, Vladimir Isakov , said that transporting the Russian military equipment via Azerbaijan will provide an opportunity to simplify the withdrawal of the Russian troops and decrease the expenses of the Russian Defense Ministry.