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The first obstacle of the Iran-Armenia railway is "the concessionaire
of the Armenian railway"
February 28 2015
"Today, the Armenian railway concessionaire first of all prevents the
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway", such opinion was expressed
by economist Ashot Yeghiazaryan in the conversation with Aravot.am,
commenting on the Government's yesterday's decision pertaining to the
Southern Railway. Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik
Beglaryan reported the Prime Minister at the Government session that
the terms for accepting respective legal acts on making amendments in
the Concession Agreement and the list of Action Plans required for the
construction of Southern Railway (Iran-Armenia) of Armenia is delayed
for two months. Gagik Beglaryan had associated the delay of the
railway construction by having a negative posture on some matters by
the concessionaire. To our question that some politicians are
convinced that the Iran-Armenia railroad will never be built and
actually, the construction of the railway is a "myth", Ashot
Yeghiazaryan assured that it is a non-profitable project for the
"South Caucasus Railway", which is the operator of the Armenian
railway. "It is a non-profitable project not only financially, but
also requires huge investments, which requires long years of
compensation. In addition, Russia's today's concessionaire is not
competitive and it is unable to provide competitive railway services."
According to him, no new concessionaire can emerge under these
conditions, as railway transport and energy are very important
geo-economic infrastructures, with the help of which Russia is able to
keep the post-Soviet countries to be dependent. The economist believes
that the way to Iran definitely is not beneficial for Russia
geo-economically and geopolitically, because Armenia having
alternative routes would mean lessening the dependence.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2015/02/28/169067/
From: A. Papazian
of the Armenian railway"
February 28 2015
"Today, the Armenian railway concessionaire first of all prevents the
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway", such opinion was expressed
by economist Ashot Yeghiazaryan in the conversation with Aravot.am,
commenting on the Government's yesterday's decision pertaining to the
Southern Railway. Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik
Beglaryan reported the Prime Minister at the Government session that
the terms for accepting respective legal acts on making amendments in
the Concession Agreement and the list of Action Plans required for the
construction of Southern Railway (Iran-Armenia) of Armenia is delayed
for two months. Gagik Beglaryan had associated the delay of the
railway construction by having a negative posture on some matters by
the concessionaire. To our question that some politicians are
convinced that the Iran-Armenia railroad will never be built and
actually, the construction of the railway is a "myth", Ashot
Yeghiazaryan assured that it is a non-profitable project for the
"South Caucasus Railway", which is the operator of the Armenian
railway. "It is a non-profitable project not only financially, but
also requires huge investments, which requires long years of
compensation. In addition, Russia's today's concessionaire is not
competitive and it is unable to provide competitive railway services."
According to him, no new concessionaire can emerge under these
conditions, as railway transport and energy are very important
geo-economic infrastructures, with the help of which Russia is able to
keep the post-Soviet countries to be dependent. The economist believes
that the way to Iran definitely is not beneficial for Russia
geo-economically and geopolitically, because Armenia having
alternative routes would mean lessening the dependence.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2015/02/28/169067/
From: A. Papazian