Yerevan is ready to go to arbitration in the dispute over the Russian concession of the South Caucasus Railway

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has allowed for the possibility that de jure decisions could be taken regarding the South Caucasus Railway, up to and including arbitration proceedings.

He stated that during a recent telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin he did not discuss issues related to the railway (which is under the concession management of the South Caucasus Railway, a subsidiary of Russia's Russian Railways – ed.). Nevertheless, the prime minister added, the government's position remains unchanged: "The railway is the property of the Republic of Armenia, and the state must use it as it deems appropriate."

The Armenian government expects that the issue with Russia over the South Caucasus Railway will be resolved in a friendly manner, but "de jure a question may arise, and in the event of disagreement [by the Russian side – ed.] this could be considered in an arbitration court."

"For example, there may turn out to be things for which we asked nothing for 30 years, and now we will ask for $2 billion a year," the prime minister said.

Asked whether he was hinting at concession payments for the railway, Pashinyan replied that there was no need for hints.

"We want to resolve the issue in a friendly manner, but still resolve it," the prime minister said.

Let us recall that the issue of the Russian concession agreement for the Armenian railway was first raised by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, after he raised the question of repairing the above-mentioned border junctions. He proposed that Russia review the management of the Armenian railway, announcing the possible sale of the concession to a friendly country — Kazakhstan, the UAE, or Qatar. Already on March 26, Pashinyan said that Yerevan does not object to transferring the management of the railways to a Kazakh company, provided the Russian side agrees. In turn, Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin noted that Russia is not conducting negotiations on transferring the concession to Kazakhstan.

Source: Sputnik Armenia