ArmInfo. In the next 2 years, the volume of traffic by railroad communication Armenia - Russia will significantly decrease, and vice versa, the volume of traffic by road will increase. Director of the large Armenian transport and logistics company Apaven Gagik Aghajanyan said this in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent, commenting on the appeal of Abkhaz parliamentarians to their Russian colleagues regarding the possible unblocking of the Abkhazian section of the railway and establishing direct communication between Russia and Armenia through the territory of Abkhazia.
Meanwhile, according to Aghajanyan, in a couple of years a new road to the "Upper Lars" checkpoint will be built in Georgia. The road, 21 km long, will also include the construction of a 9-kilometer tunnel, thanks to which traffic on this road will become year-round, round-the-clock, and therefore uninterrupted. Equipment for the construction of a road in Georgia has already been delivered to the construction site. For Armenia, in this context, a much more important task should be the completion of the construction of the North-South highway, as well as the effective use of existing communication opportunities. Thus, the volume of transportation by rail will be significantly reduced, and by road, on the contrary, will increase. The reason for this is the higher tariffs for railway transportation in Armenia itself, which are also significantly influenced by expensive tariffs for energy resources.
The specialist emphasized that the proposal of the Abkhaz parliamentarians is possibly related to concerns about the use of the Meghri corridor and access to the railways of Azerbaijan, and from there to Russia. However, even in this situation, the specialist continued, there is no need to talk about the country's great needs for the railway, for this you can spend nothing at all, but for this Armenia should take a much tougher position on the issue of resuming transport routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to him, it is not coincidently that the President of the neighboring country Ilham Aliyev lowers the degree of his anti-Armenian statements when it comes to this route. He needs an international treaty, which he can use at any time, right up to the introduction of troops, even when determining tariff rates for future rail transportation. Yerevan should insist that these tariffs correspond to tariffs for other directions of transportation. And there is no special need for the construction of a new railway linking Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan by transit through the territory of Armenia.
If the matter concerns unblocking communications for Nakhichevan, then this can be done very quickly, without much effort and cost, and most importantly - within a few weeks. To do this, there is no need to make excessive efforts, build a new railway or even renovate it. There is a railway from Turkey through the Armenian Akhuryan, and then Gyumri, Yerevan and Yeraskh to Nakhichevan, and it is in working condition. Its about 500-600 meters from Yeraskh to the border of Nakhichevan. The next station is Nakhichevan - Sadarak. Today, from Russia through Derbent by rail, you can get to Baku, from there through the central parts of Azerbaijan to get to Armenia. This is a two-way railway, and a large amount of cargo can be transported along it at the same time. On the Armenian section, you just need to restore 500- 600 meters of the railway. This way you can get to Yerevan and from there to Nakhichevan. It will work properly, providing a railway connection between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. In length, this is even less than the planned project. At the same time, according to the estimates of the Azerbaijani side, it will take two years and $ 434 million to build a new railway line. This road cannot be built for such a period and such an amount. An illustrative example of this is the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railway through the territory of Georgia. It was necessary to build 130 km of the road there. Then they said that they would build it in two years and for $ 400 million, but in reality it was built in 11 years and about $ 1 billion was spent. Meanwhile, transport links with Azerbaijan can be restored within a few weeks.
Gagik Aghajanyan recalled that before the collapse of the USSR, Armenia was a serious hub in terms of railway communication for the countries of the region. With the exception of the railway line between Georgia and Azerbaijan, all other routes passed through Armenia. Regional countries communicated with each other exclusively through the territory of Armenia. By rail, one could get from Georgia to Turkey through Armenia, from Azerbaijan to Turkey - also through the territory of Armenia. The same could be said about the communication between Iran and Georgia. Even from Azerbaijan to Iran by rail, it was possible to travel exclusively through the territory of Armenia. However, after the collapse of the USSR, the regional map of railway communications changed a lot. Azerbaijan has already built a railway to enter Iran via Astara - Rasht. Baku has already bypassed Armenia from the east. There is already a railway linking Georgia with Turkey: Kars - Akhalkalaki. Thus, Georgia bypasses Armenia from the west. Thus, there are railway communications bypassing Armenia from the east, north and west. There is only one road left - the southern one, during the construction of which Armenia, being in the center of the region, will find itself in transport isolation. As soon as a railway is built connecting the southern regions of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, and then with Turkey, through the so-called Meghri corridor, Armenia will find itself in complete transport isolation. "That is, with our help, they will actually bypass Armenia," Aghajanyan said. He also stated that the Meghri section is 45 km of the road along which Azerbaijani trains will transit to Nakhichevan. This is just a short transit road, which the Armenian railway itself does not enter. That is, it will not be connected with the Armenian railway system, but will only connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan.
However, through Nakhichevan, Armenian cargo can reach Iran by rail if it is unblocked, but for this there is no need to build a new road through the south of Armenia. Armenia can restore railway communication with Azerbaijan through Ijevan in a matter of weeks or months, providing transport communication between Baku and Nakhichevan, and Azerbaijan will unblock the railway between Armenia and Iran through the same Nakhichevan. "This road already exists. Why build another road from the south? The answer is obvious - to bypass Armenia," the head of the company emphasized, recalling that Turkey has already announced that it is ready to build a railway to Nakhichevan from Sharur station (Nakhichevan) to Igdir and further to Kars. In this situation, Armenia will be forced to bow to its neighbors every time to get a road in one direction or another. "At the same time, we cannot offer them our roads in any way. They will not need them. Armenia will unilaterally pay its neighbors for roads through their territories. That is, the restart of the Meghri section of the railway will lead to the fact that, being in the center of Transcaucasia, Armenia finds itself in complete transport isolation. I think that Yerevan can offer to use the existing railways. When cargoes go through them and the traffic reaches such volumes that the capacity of these roads will not be able to serve them, then we can think about building an alternative road. Then there will be economic expediency in the construction of a new canvas. If today there is no economic expediency in its construction, then the question arises why this should be done. There is only one explanation - this is a political project, "Aghajanyan said. He also reminded that the whole world opens up to Armenia through the Georgian ports. Armenia is connected with Georgian ports by a railway, which operates without interruption. Armenia through the territory of Georgia along Upper Lars carries out transportations with Russia. You just need to effectively use the available opportunities.