Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the online press conference organized for the representatives of mass media and non-governmental organizations also touched upon the issue of opening the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway.
“You know that by my decision a working group has already been set up, those sections that we have to build are at least tens of times cheaper than the Armenia-Iran railway. According to preliminary estimates, it is about investing $ 200 million and $ 5 million, it is not too heavy for Armenia, it is not a big burden, in this case, many international donors are very interested. And it is quite possible that there will be such combinations that there may be no need to invest money from the budget of Armenia. We still have to understand what the South Caucasus Railway thinks about it. There are also international European companies that are interested, and they are ready to come, make investments, and exploit,” Pashinyan said.
“If, suppose, theoretically, the Armenia-Iran railway was to connect Armenia and Iran, then with this scenario the railway connects Armenia with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation. If we manage to achieve the opening of regional communications, including the Armenia-Turkey border, it means that Armenia gets a railway connection with Europe, Russia, Iran and China, with all the resulting economic consequences. By 'peace agenda' we mean this,” he said, adding that when those roads are opened, they will bring huge transit flows from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, from Europe, Turkey, the Middle East to Russia.
“This is where Armenia and Azerbaijan will receive huge transit revenues. We can say that this is a common project that can lay the foundation for a peace agenda,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
