Ambassador of China: It will be possible to speak of expediency of Iran-Armenia project after prepartion of feasibility study

 It will be possible to speak of real investments and dates of implementation of the Iran-Armenia railway project after the feasibility study of the project is prepared, Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong told reporters on November 16, on the sidelines of the workshop on Chinese-Armenian cooperation in the light of creation of the Silk Road Economic Belt. He stressed that at the current stage two Chinese companies are conducting the feasibility study of the project on a non-repayable basis to see the expediency of the Iran-Armenia railway project.        

In Ambassador Erlong's word, the initiative of economic cooperation and joint construction of the Silk Road Belt aims to accelerate the integration processes in the Eurasian space. "Armenia is one of the countries, via which the Silk Road used to be laid. We think there are certain directions for promotion of the Armenian-Chinese cooperation under the current conditions," he said. The ambassador thinks that the initiative suggests coordinating not only the socio-economic and political efforts towards creation of a convenient transport system and convenient conditions for business conduct, but also the availability of humanitarian ties. 

Stepan Grigoryan, Head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, said that China is a country with immense financial capacities and one should not doubt that the project will be implemented. "In the context of Armenia's possible involvement in the given project, much depends on Armenia's efforts. If we take more active measures, part of the Road will be laid via the territory of Armenia. Otherwise, our neighbors will be quicker," said Grigoryan. He pointed out that China has repeatedly demonstrated its interest in using Armenia's capacities in the project. Meanwhile, Deputy Economy Minister of Armenia Sergey Avetisyan said, "Situated on the crossroad of the West and the East, Armenia has preferential trade regimes with a number of states and can propose a lot of things to Chinese investors." 

To recall, over the past few years, China has been the second largest trade partner of Armenia. According to official statistics, in the first three quarters of 2015, the bilateral trade amounted to $358 mln, with Armenia's export to China growing by 12%.  

Armenia and Iran signed a concession agreement in May 2012. In cooperation with Dubai-based investment company, Rasia FZE, a feasibility study of the Southern Railway project was developed. It is anticipated that the construction will take 6 years. The feasibility study of the project Southern Railway of Armenia (Iran-Armenia railway) is ready. The railway is supposed to connect Asia with Central Europe.  It will be 305 km long and will consist of 86 bridges and 60 tunnels. The estimated cost of the project is $3.5bn. The construction will be launched in 2016 and finished in 2022.  It is anticipated that the annual freight activity on the railway route from Gagarin Station (Gegharkunik region) to Agarak (Syunik region) will total 25 million tons. This route is by 44 shorter than the earlier planned railway section Gavar-Agarak.  It will be linked to the operating railway network. The launch of the Southern Railway of Armenia and Southern Highway of Armenia was announced in Jan 2013. Then a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the South Caucasus Railway of Armenia, Ministry of Transport and Communications of Armenia and Rasia FZE. 

According to ArmInfo's economic analysts, there are three factors that make the project inefficient. First, the Armenian railway cannot have direct access to Russia. Second, even if there is a hypothetical possibility that the Abhkazian section of the railway will be reactivated in future, the Iran-Armenian motorway that will have been built by that time will make the Iran-Armenia railway absolutely unnecessary in view of its short mileage.  The third, most important factor is the Astara-Resht-Kazvin railway project implemented by the Russian Railways to link the operating railways of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. That project is part of the North-South international transport corridor that will integrate the transport routes and information highways of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, India and Oman. The analysts say the Iran-Armenia project is politically motivated. Therefore, the sides have not managed to set it in motion within the last 3 years.  The statements by Armenian officials claiming that China may invest in the project as part of its ambitions plan to restore the great Silk Road (cost $40 billion) do not stand up to criticism either. Armenia is not mentioned in any of the new Silk Road scenarios, unlike the Iran-Azerbaijan and Turkey-Georgia railways.  Relatively recently, the transport minister of Iran voiced quite promising projects of railway communication with the countries in the region, but Armenia was not mentioned in any of those projects.