ArmInfo.After the commissioning of the tunnel under construction in Georgia in the direction of Russia, the prospect of the transit of Armenian goods through the territory of Azerbaijan will not be of any interest at all. Gagik Aghajanyan, Executive Director of the Apaven transport-forwarding company, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"I am telling you- communications through Azerbaijan to Russia are not of interest to us now. Moreover, these communications have never been competitive from a logistic point of view. In other words, the whole question for us rests on the lack of economic feasibility. I am simply convinced that no one will send goods through Azerbaijan, neglecting the cheaper Georgian route, "he stressed.
Commenting on the need to unblock all transport and economic communications in the region, voiced recently by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, to open communications for Armenia through Azerbaijan in the direction of Russia, Central Asia and Iran, Aghajanyan noted that first of all, it is necessary to ask a question whether Armenia has any goods to export to Central Asia? In this light, he noted that Armenian companies do not have the opportunity to fully fill free niches even in the Russian market. Based on the existing production capacities in Armenia, the expert is convinced that unblocking communications through Azerbaijan is absolutely futile for Armenia.
In this light, according to Aghajanyan, the question arises - why and for whom does Armenia open communications and can it get something in return? Especially in the light of the absence of any prospects for the commissioning of the existing railway from Nakhchivan and further through the territory of Armenia to Turkey. According to him, this is being spoken about quite openly. Moreover, the Turks and Azerbaijanis today are building a railway bypassing Armenia, neglecting the already built road on the territory of Armenia.
Meanwhile, having opened a 40-kilometer communication line for Azerbaijan and Turkey through its own territory in the Syunik region, Armenia, according to Aghajanyan's forecasts, will gain absolutely nothing. First of all, due to the fact that only Turks and Azerbaijanis will use this route. Even if we are talking about communication controlled by Armenia, and not about the "corridor" required by Baku.
"Any possibility of organizing transit, any logistic communication has its price. Accordingly, Armenia needs to clearly define this price and issue an invoice to those who are interested in this opportunity. Only in this case, if our national interests are observed, it seems possible to discuss these projects. Unblocking communications, in the form in which it is proposed to us today, is simply unacceptable. Providing neighboring countries, in addition to the existing routes, one more opportunity to bypass and block Armenia is unacceptable. Accordingly, it is not in the interests of Armenia, "Aghajanyan summed up.