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IRAN-ARMENIA RAIL LINK 'REALISTIC' FOR RUSSIA
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24486741.html
16.02.2012
Armenia - Vladimir Yakunin (second from right), chairman of Russia's
state-run rail network, speaks to journalists in Yerevan, Tigran
Avetisian
Russia remains interested in an ambitious project to build a railway
connecting Armenia to neighboring Iran despite "problems" created by
Tehran's deepening standoff with the West, according to the head of
the state-run Russian rail network, RZD.
"We think that this project has realistic chances of implementation
but that could be done only within the inter-state framework and
doesn't depend only on us," Vladimir Yakunin said at the end of a
visit to Armenia late on Wednesday.
Yakunin arrived in Yerevan to introduce Viktor Rebets, the new
executive director of Armenia's national railway company managed by
RZD. He also met with President Serzh Sarkisian.
The Armenian and Iranian governments officially approved the railway
project in 2009. But they have yet to identify concrete sources
of funding for the 470-kilometer rail link that would mainly pass
through Armenian territory. Unofficial estimates of its total cost
have varied from $1 billion to $4 billion.
The Armenian side hopes that Russian firms will participate in the
railway construction and partly finance it. The Russian government
and RZD have not ruled out such possibility.
The Armenian and Russian transport ministries set up joint working
groups looking into the project after Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev's August 2010 visit to Yerevan. Medvedev and Sarkisian also
discussed the issue when they met in Moscow in October 2011.
"We hope that with joint efforts by both Russia and Armenia as well
as some third countries we will, after all, manage to achieve a more
modern and perhaps even radically new system of communications for
Armenia," Medvedev said during the talks in an apparent reference to
the would-be rail link.
Yakunin insisted that the project is feasible even though between
30 and 50 years would be needed to recoup the massive construction
expenditures. "And if that project is launched South Caucasus Railway
will definitely participate in its implementation," he said, referring
to RZD's Armenian subsidiary.
The Russian official noted that the tightening international sanctions
against Iran are creating "quite a bit of problems" hampering economic
cooperation between the Islamic Republic and other regional states,
including Armenia. "We believe that cooperation is much more effective
than any sanction imposed on Iran," he said, echoing Moscow's official
stance on the standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Richard Giragosian, a Yerevan-based political analyst, suggested on
Thursday that Russia is keen to use the project to "demonstrate its
power and influence in this region" and underline its opposition to
U.S. or Israeli military action against Iran. "It's too soon to say
whether the project will start and finish but I see a new political
will from Moscow to take it more seriously," he told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).
"This visit [by Yakunin] is about assessing what is needed for the
next step to make this more realistic both in terms of Armenia-Iran
and just in case the Armenian-Turkish diplomacy restarts," Giragosian
said. "Politically this is more realistic than it has been before. The
real challenge will be whether there is a financial commitment from
Russia to make this a reality."
The Armenian government regards China as another potential source
of funding for the railway construction. Transport Minister Manuk
Vartanian revealed in 2010 that Yerevan is seeking as much as $1
billion in Chinese loans for that purpose.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi discussed the issue with Prime
Minister Tigran Sarkisian during a February 2011 visit to Yerevan.
Sarkisian's press office referred to "the Chinese side's interest"
in the project but did not elaborate.
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24486741.html
16.02.2012
Armenia - Vladimir Yakunin (second from right), chairman of Russia's
state-run rail network, speaks to journalists in Yerevan, Tigran
Avetisian
Russia remains interested in an ambitious project to build a railway
connecting Armenia to neighboring Iran despite "problems" created by
Tehran's deepening standoff with the West, according to the head of
the state-run Russian rail network, RZD.
"We think that this project has realistic chances of implementation
but that could be done only within the inter-state framework and
doesn't depend only on us," Vladimir Yakunin said at the end of a
visit to Armenia late on Wednesday.
Yakunin arrived in Yerevan to introduce Viktor Rebets, the new
executive director of Armenia's national railway company managed by
RZD. He also met with President Serzh Sarkisian.
The Armenian and Iranian governments officially approved the railway
project in 2009. But they have yet to identify concrete sources
of funding for the 470-kilometer rail link that would mainly pass
through Armenian territory. Unofficial estimates of its total cost
have varied from $1 billion to $4 billion.
The Armenian side hopes that Russian firms will participate in the
railway construction and partly finance it. The Russian government
and RZD have not ruled out such possibility.
The Armenian and Russian transport ministries set up joint working
groups looking into the project after Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev's August 2010 visit to Yerevan. Medvedev and Sarkisian also
discussed the issue when they met in Moscow in October 2011.
"We hope that with joint efforts by both Russia and Armenia as well
as some third countries we will, after all, manage to achieve a more
modern and perhaps even radically new system of communications for
Armenia," Medvedev said during the talks in an apparent reference to
the would-be rail link.
Yakunin insisted that the project is feasible even though between
30 and 50 years would be needed to recoup the massive construction
expenditures. "And if that project is launched South Caucasus Railway
will definitely participate in its implementation," he said, referring
to RZD's Armenian subsidiary.
The Russian official noted that the tightening international sanctions
against Iran are creating "quite a bit of problems" hampering economic
cooperation between the Islamic Republic and other regional states,
including Armenia. "We believe that cooperation is much more effective
than any sanction imposed on Iran," he said, echoing Moscow's official
stance on the standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Richard Giragosian, a Yerevan-based political analyst, suggested on
Thursday that Russia is keen to use the project to "demonstrate its
power and influence in this region" and underline its opposition to
U.S. or Israeli military action against Iran. "It's too soon to say
whether the project will start and finish but I see a new political
will from Moscow to take it more seriously," he told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).
"This visit [by Yakunin] is about assessing what is needed for the
next step to make this more realistic both in terms of Armenia-Iran
and just in case the Armenian-Turkish diplomacy restarts," Giragosian
said. "Politically this is more realistic than it has been before. The
real challenge will be whether there is a financial commitment from
Russia to make this a reality."
The Armenian government regards China as another potential source
of funding for the railway construction. Transport Minister Manuk
Vartanian revealed in 2010 that Yerevan is seeking as much as $1
billion in Chinese loans for that purpose.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi discussed the issue with Prime
Minister Tigran Sarkisian during a February 2011 visit to Yerevan.
Sarkisian's press office referred to "the Chinese side's interest"
in the project but did not elaborate.