The question of handing over the railway to the concession management of another country remains

The issue of handing over the Armenian railway to the concession management of another country remains on our agenda, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan stated in a conversation with “Azatutyan”.

“That topic is part of our agenda, we will continue to discuss and look for solutions. At the moment, the negotiations are ongoing and as soon as we have results, we will naturally announce it,” he said.

Prime Minister Pashinyan publicly announced in February that Armenia is losing its competitive advantage in the general context of the regional de-blockade due to the Russian management of the Armenian Railways. The Prime Minister also spoke about the possible danger of bypassing Armenia.

“In general, in order for us to gain a competitive advantage in terms of regional structures, we need to work as quickly as possible, build or rebuild infrastructure as quickly as possible. Speed ​​is an important factor here, which side will be able to develop its infrastructure as quickly as possible,” said Grigoryan.

Regarding the reconstruction of the railway infrastructure in Yeraskh and Akhurik sections, Grigoryan said that negotiations with Moscow are ongoing. Grigoryan mentioned that these parts will be reconstructed through the state budget of Armenia.

Although the railway is under concession management to the Russian side and there were negotiations with Moscow for the Russians to undertake the repair, the Prime Minister announced the other day that the Armenian government will do it.

“We understand that infrastructure development is not about one piece, it’s about whole infrastructures, it’s also about TRIPP, it’s about our railway infrastructures that we have in Armenia, which we need to restore or rebuild or use the existing ones, it’s about the development of general infrastructures,” he said.

“To the question of freedom, that is, is there a need to completely modernize the railway network of Armenia, the Secretary of the Security Council answered that there is in some places.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of it was not used, you know some of it as iron, it was given to other countries for money or sometimes maybe without money. This is the problem, that the complete infrastructures are restored,” added Grigoryan.

“Armenia will work primarily to gain a competitive advantage, to open infrastructures, to invest in infrastructures from the beginning, and then in addition to these infrastructures, so that goods and services mainly pass through Armenia,” said the Secretary of the Council of Ministers.

And in what terms does Armenia expect the negotiations with the Russian side to be resolved, he said, as soon as possible.

“We believe that we should continue the dialogue with the Russian Federation to find a solution to the issues that exist, and negotiations are the main means of this,” he said.

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