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The train carrying Azerbaijani fuel has arrived in Armenia.
A total of 1,218 tons of A-95 gasoline was shipped from Azerbaijan by rail through Georgia.
Seryozha Mkrtchyan, Head of the Vanadzor Line Station Division of South Caucasus Railways, told Armenpress at the Ayrum station that the shipment marks the first gasoline cargo sent from Azerbaijan to Armenia since 1988.
He detailed the subsequent procedures. “After the train’s arrival, since the cargo is not considered an EAEU shipment, it must undergo customs inspection.
The inspection is carried out as follows: the current in the train’s high-voltage power lines is switched off, the tank car lids are opened, and customs officers conduct measurements and take samples to check the quality and quantity. After the documents are verified at the station and by the customs service, the cargo is prepared for dispatch. This process takes approximately two hours,” Mkrtchyan said, adding that 11 of the train’s wagons will depart from the Ayrum station to the "Yerevan" railway station, while the remaining 11 wagons will head to the "Karmir Blur" railway station.
Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan earlier said that the shipment marks the first commercial deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan since gaining independence.
The fuel was purchased by a private company.
The shipment follows recent Russian and Kazakh grain shipments via Azerbaijan and Georgia.
It was made based on an agreement reached during a meeting on November 28 in Gabala between Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, who chair the border delimitation and security commissions on both sides.