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Russia enhances Armenia’s transit capacity

By Messenger Staff
Monday, December 28
100% of Armenian Railways now belongs to Russian Railways and it functions under the name South Caucasus Railways. Its CEO Shepket Shaidulin held a press conference on December 24 stating that Armenia is able to, and should, become a transit country and certain steps are being taken in this direction. He stressed that Armenia is very well located geographically.

Shaidulin also mentioned Georgia and its ambitions to become a transit country connecting Europe with India and China through the Karsi-Akhalkalaki Railways. He stated that the Karsi-Gumri railway should be used for this purpose, saying that serious steps had been taken to upgrade this, with the Armenian segment being completely rehabilitated and reconstructed according to international standards.

An opposition Dashnak Party MP, the economist Ara Nranian, thinks that South Caucasus Railways should think less about the Armenian track and more about the Turkish segment. He is very sceptical about the viability of this way of connecting east with west. He highlighted the problems suggested by the state of Armenian-Turkish relations as well as Armenian-Azeri ones. He also suggested that Central Asia would not be without conflicts in the near future.