Pashinyan Threatened To Deprive Russia Of Control Over Armenia's Railroads

It's sparking between Yerevan and Moscow.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has hinted to Moscow for the second time this year that it may lose control over the country's railroads, which are concessionally managed by Russian Railways through its subsidiary South Caucasus Railway CJSC (SCR). As Finport.am reports, the head of the Armenian government said on Wednesday that Yerevan needs to change the management model of Armenia's railroad network in order to prevent it from falling under international sanctions imposed on Russian Railways.

"We believe that we definitely need to change the concession logic of Armenian railroads, which, by the way, are 100% owned by the Republic of Armenia. This is necessary so that the sanctions obstacle does not become a problem for our railroads," Pashinyan said during a meeting with voters. He also noted that Russia has "complicated sanctions relations with Western countries," and international companies are seeking to eliminate the risk of being included in blacklists and are looking for safe routes. Before that, in February, the Armenian prime minister suggested that Moscow should consider selling the concession to a third country friendly to both Russia and Armenia.

He named Kazakhstan, the UAE, Qatar or other states as possible candidates. According to Pashinyan, the management structure of the railroads forces Armenia to "lose strategic positions and competitive advantages." The Russian side responded by saying that it does not consider transferring the management of railroads to another country expedient.

Armenian railroad infrastructure has been under a 30-year concession from the Southern Railway Company since 2008. As the head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu stated, the volume of Russian investments in the country's railroads during this time amounted to more than 30 billion rubles. In addition, he said, the concession agreement brought more than 15 billion rubles to the Armenian budget in the form of taxes, and more than 520 kilometers of track were repaired.

Discussions on the management of Armenian railroads have intensified against the backdrop of Yerevan's strengthening relations with the United States, the settlement of the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and growing disagreements with Moscow.

In August last year, the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to implement the American project TRIPP ("Trump's Route for International Peace"). Among other things, TRIPP envisages the construction of a railroad infrastructure in the region that will connect the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic via Armenia and further with Turkey.

Pashinyan reminded on Wednesday that Turkey is currently building a section of the Kars-Diliju railroad from Kars to Nakhichevan, while Armenia itself already has a ready railroad infrastructure that needs to be utilized.

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