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Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ararat Mirzoyan has expressed hope that Armenia and Russia will find solutions to the problems facing Armenia’s railway system through a joint working group.
Mirzoyan commented on the matter when asked about it by Civil Contract MP Sona Ghazaryan at a meeting of the Armenian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Relations.
The MP referred to the recent visit to Armenia by the head of Russian Railways, asking about the work and progress made toward modernizing the railway and improving passenger services.
Mirzoyan said meetings and discussions had been held with the Russian side, and an agreement had been reached to work toward possible solutions within a three-month period.
“Let’s see, let’s wait and give our Armenian and Russian partners an opportunity to find some solutions within this working group. We hope they will. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” the minister said.
Mirzoyan agreed that Armenia’s railways need modernization. He said that, amid competition in international freight transportation, time and distance are important factors in choosing routes.
“Today, in major logistics flows and movements between large markets, businesses evaluate and take into account every extra minute and every extra kilometer, along with the resulting geopolitical implications and consequences for route selection. Therefore, we really do need modernization. I don’t deny that,” he emphasized.
Responding to the MP’s remarks on service quality, the minister added that Armenian citizens have the right to better service and deserve it.
Mirzoyan also linked the need to address railway problems to the opportunities presented by the unblocking of regional communications. He referred to the railway connection from Yerevan to Meghri via Nakhchivan, noting that the missing infrastructure needed for this transportation route must also be restored.
He said that Armenia has a historic opportunity to become one of the key hubs of major international transport routes, and realizing this opportunity requires resolving existing problems.
On October 14, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Oleg Belozyorov, General Director and Chairman of the Management Board of Russian Railways, discussed ways to improve the competitiveness of Armenia’s railways and integrate them into the international network, as well as the reconstruction of the Gyumri–Akhurik–Turkish border and Yeraskh–Nakhchivan sections. The sides agreed to establish a working group that would examine all the issues and propose solutions within three months.