Since 2008, the railway network in Armenia has been managed by the Russian Railways subsidiary “South Caucasus Railways” under a 30-year concession agreement.
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In February, N. Pashinyan proposed to Moscow to sell these rights “friendly” to a neighboring country – Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, or Qatar, because the current situation, he said, causes “competitive losses” for Armenia. The Russian government, in turn, stated that there are “no objective reasons” for such a step.
On Thursday, N. Pashinyan emphasized that the railways belong to Armenia, and it has the right to use them “as it sees fit.”
“It may turn out that for what has been free in Armenia for 30 years, Armenia will start demanding 2 billion dollars. I am not hinting about the railway, I am directly saying that this is the property of the Republic of Armenia, and there is no other option,” the prime minister said.
He added that Yerevan hopes to resolve this issue “amicably,” but did not rule out the possibility of going to arbitration if legal disputes arise.
As one of the reasons for reviewing the concession agreement, N. Pashinyan previously pointed out the unsatisfactory condition of the railway infrastructure.
In 2025, he proposed that Russia restore the sections from Yershak to Azerbaijan and from Achurik to Turkey or return them to Armenia so that the republic could reconstruct them with state funds.
These lines are necessary for the implementation of the “Trump Route” (TRIPP) in the South Caucasus, whose management is planned to be transferred to a private American company.
“We must take advantage of this historic opportunity… and we cannot allow our railway to turn into a pile of scrap metal,” the prime minister said.
Earlier, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned Armenia against attempts to replace Russia in the management of the republic’s railways, warning that the system created over many years could “collapse in an instant,” and ordinary citizens “will have to pay for it.”
He also stated that during the concession period, Russia invested more than 30 billion rubles in the Armenian railway network, transferred more than 15 billion rubles in taxes to the republic’s budget, and repaired 520 km of railway tracks.
On Wednesday, the Armenian prime minister revealed that during their phone conversation on July 27, he made Vladimir Putin understand that he would continue the course of seeking other partners.
“Armenia has the legitimate right to form alternatives… We have paved this path and will follow it,” N. Pashinyan assured, emphasizing that the era when the country had no choice “is over.”
The Armenian prime minister also called the restrictions on the supply of Armenian goods to Russia illegal and urged V. Putin to “take measures.”
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