In past years, as a rule, on the eve of the Novruz holiday (March 21), there was some kind of victorious mood in the shops in the Astara district bordering Iran. Iranian citizens who have moved to Azerbaijan and residents of neighboring districts made their holiday purchases here. And now there is silence here, there are few people. The store owner we talked to also complains about the small number of customers: “Given the onset of Novruz Bayram, I bought a lot of goods, but they are not for sale. Food products and washing powders mainly come from Iran. Before the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of Iranians crossed over to this side on the eve of the holiday, and left from here. It was a good trade, now it’s not like that. Iran is closed. ” (for 3 years, due to the coronavirus, travel was restricted on the land borders of Azerbaijan) According to him, after the armed attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran on January 27, entry and exit decreased even more: “It looks like this situation will last for a long time. It is no longer profitable to work here.” The owner of the neighboring store says the same thing. He points to the goods laid out in front of the store: “Yesterday I sold goods worth 10 manats. What will I do for a living if I close the store? I’m kidding myself. Iranian money is also not stable, it falls every time. Last week, 1 US dollar was worth 600 thousand reais. That is 60 thousand Tyumen. They regulate the prices of goods in dollars and manats. Manats and dollars are coming from us to Iran. We used to call and ask for the goods, and now the Iranian merchants themselves are begging us to take the goods.” According to a resident of Masalli region, who came to shop, this year he does not expect a big profit for the holidays: “I have my own small store. I still have the goods from last year. We come here on the eve of the holiday. The prices are not so cheap, the difference is small. But the price for washing powders is reasonable. Iranian goods were bought because of their cheapness…”. A taxi driver engaged in passenger transportation in Baku says: “We come and spend the day here. In a month, three or four people come to this side from Iran, who are already waiting for the taxi they ordered. Now the situation is such that we are taking them to Baku for any price, as long as there is a client. We come here every day and wait. We think maybe relations with Iran will improve, then people will leave and come. Three children are waiting for me at home. The Novruz holiday is approaching, which requires a lot of expenses.” Despite the restrictions, cargo transport goes to Iran and back. To get to Iran, a long queue of trucks lined up on the Silk Road. Basically, these are cars from Dagestan. According to one of the drivers from this region of Russia, there are trucks that have been waiting here for weeks: “Russian cars are next. Trucks from Azerbaijan and Iran are not waiting in line, they go directly. They say that the Iranian side is working slowly. I’ve been here for almost a month. My friend has already loaded the goods in Iran for 12 days, the queue has not reached him yet, there is also a queue there. They are transporting agricultural products, livestock feed.” According to the same driver, cattle feed is running out in Russia: “Iran has it. We have cars that enter Iran with cargo and leave with cargo. Here they earn a little. I came empty, and I’m eating my earnings here. There is less work for trucks in Russia than in previous years, not as much as before. We also live in fear when we return home. They go off to war without asking anyone. It’s better to stay here than go there.” (In February last year, Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine) Another driver from Dagestan says he’s tired of waiting in line: “I’m tired. We sleep in the car for days. There is a big queue because of the many cars. My neighbor called from Dagestan, says he’s coming too. I said there was a queue here, it would take a month. He says he’s coming with supplies. There is no work in another place. Let’s go to a place where there is at least a little light.” The Russian driver thinks a little, and then continues: “You know, the war with Ukraine has brought disaster to our homes. The war has frozen jobs. We used to go to China for cargo, but now we don’t have that either. When the roads were open, we also went to Ukraine to transport goods. What’s wrong with that? You can’t talk about such things there, they knock on the door right away. Don’t take pictures of me, you can frame me. What we eat daily is mostly dry bread. Hot food is out of reach for us.” The queue formed on the Silk Road stretches to the Lenkoran Bridge. And the distance to the bridge is 30-35 kilometers. Drivers are offered meals from “Lada ” cars. The queue of cars is controlled by traffic police officers. It was not possible to talk to the customs officials of Azerbaijan and Iran about the opinions expressed in the article.

Source: Turan News Agency