Armenia wants to change the logic of railway concession management so that sanctions-related obstacles do not hinder development of the country’s railway system, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a meeting with residents of Goght in Kotayk Province.

He referred to developments surrounding regional communications, noting that Turkey is currently building the Kars-Dilucu railway segment from Kars to Nakhichevan, while Armenia already has ready railway infrastructure, Armenpress reported.

“Armenia already has a ready railway, and it is the ready railway that should be used,” the prime minister said.

According to Pashinyan, government studies concluded that the issue is linked to Armenia’s current railway concession management model.

“Since Armenia’s railway is under a Russian concession, and Russia has complicated sanctions-related relations with Western countries, Western states are looking for ways to bypass that,” he said.

According to the prime minister, international companies are trying to avoid sanctions risks and are seeking safer routes.

“We believe that the concession logic of Armenia’s railways must definitely be changed, which, by the way, is 100 percent property of the Republic of Armenia. This must be done so that sanctions-related obstacles do not become a problem for our roads and railways,” Pashinyan said.

He added that Armenia will continue discussions in this direction with partners, including Russia.

Pashinyan also stated that the next stage is expected to involve the opening of the Armenia-Turkey border and railway connection.

“In any case, the east-west flow of goods is so large that I am convinced our railway will operate under a heavy load and bring substantial revenue to the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

According to the prime minister, international partners have also studied road routes passing through Armenia and concluded that the shortest east-west corridor runs through Tavush, Lori and Shirak provinces.

“There is major investment interest in developing roads running from Tavush Province to Shirak Province and creating toll roads for cargo trucks,” Pashinyan said.

According to him, these projects will generate additional revenues for Armenia.

Armenia’s railway concession management is currently carried out by Russia through the South Caucasus Railway company. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had previously discussed the issue as well, stating that Russian concession management deprived Armenia of certain competitive advantages and proposing that railway concession management could be transferred to a third country friendly to both Armenia and Russia.

Russian officials have already stated on several occasions that they do not consider transferring railway concession management to a third country appropriate.