Pashinyan says former high-ranking officials involved in criminal case over Meghri railway

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that, to his knowledge, former high-ranking officials were involved in a criminal case concerning the sale of rails from the dismantled Meghri railway.

“I know that there is such a criminal case,” Pashinyan said in parliament when asked about the matter by Civil Contract MP Arman Yeghoyan.

“As far as I know, even former high-ranking officials were involved in that case. But, to be honest, I cannot say at the moment what stage the case is at, how far it has progressed or what its status is. I have just asked my colleagues to check and report back,” the prime minister said.

Yeghoyan raised the issue in the context of parliamentary discussions on TRIPP.

He referred to the dismantling of the former railway and the sale of its rails, asking what progress had been made in the criminal case concerning those circumstances.

According to Yeghoyan, the railway was dismantled in 2003, and the rails were sold to the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine through the Ministry of Defense.

Yeghoyan proposed keeping the issue in the political spotlight as well, noting that criticism of the terms for attracting investment for TRIPP should also address what happened to the former infrastructure.

Pashinyan said he had already asked his colleagues to verify the information about the case and would make it public once he received it.