Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the importance of changing the management model of Armenian railways.
Modern.az reports that Pashinyan spoke about this during his meeting with residents of Goxt village in Kotayk province.
He stated that the sanctions imposed against Russia could become an obstacle to the development of the country's railway system.
"Turkey is currently building the Kars-Dilucu-Nakhchivan railway line, although Armenia already has a ready railway infrastructure. Armenia has a ready railway and these opportunities should be used. As a result of the research, the government concluded that the problem is related to the existing concession management model. Armenian Railways is under Russian concession, and Russia has complex sanction relations with Western countries. Therefore, Western countries are looking for ways to bypass this mechanism," he emphasized.
Pashinyan stated that international companies are trying to avoid sanction risks and are looking for safer routes:
"We must definitely change the concession logic of Armenian Railways. By the way, these railways are 100 percent owned by the Republic of Armenia. This step is important so that the sanction barrier does not create a problem for the development of our railway."
According to Pashinyan, Armenia will continue to work with partners, including Russia, in this direction.
He added that the issue of opening the Armenia-Turkey border and railway is being considered in the next stage.
"The flow of cargo from East to West is so great that I am sure the Armenian railway will operate with high load and bring great income to the country," Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister also noted that international partners have also investigated road routes passing through the territory of Armenia and concluded that the shortest East-West route passes through Tavush, Lori and Shirak provinces:
"It is about great investment interest in the development of roads from Tavush to Shirak and the creation of toll highways for trucks."
It should be noted that the concession management of Armenian Railways is currently carried out by Russia through the company "South Caucasus Railways". Pashinyan had previously touched upon this issue, stating that Russia's concession management deprives Armenia of some competitive advantages. He had proposed transferring the management to a third country that has friendly relations with both Armenia and Russia.
