Pashinyan Allows Partial Sale of Concession Rights for Armenian Railways
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARКА/. Armenia wants to resolve the railway issue with Russia in a friendly manner and avoid drastic measures, stated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, commenting on the concession management of South Caucasus Railways by Russian Railways.
He stated that such an approach presupposes mutual understanding and consideration of each other's interests, as well as a willingness to compromise.
"One such compromise could be the sale of the railway concession rights by Russian Railways. The sale could be complete or partial, meaning certain shareholder configurations are possible, with a distribution of shares that would not hinder Armenia's historic opportunity to integrate into the international transport network," Pashinyan said at a press briefing on Thursday.
The Prime Minister emphasized that he personally sees no problem with the Armenian railway being managed by a Russian company, and that he respects and understands Russia's interests. However, he stated that the current situation hinders the country's historic opportunity to integrate into the international railway network. Pashinyan explained that international logistics market participants are not showing investment interest in the relevant section and are trying to avoid the topic.
"We understand that the reason is that our railway is under Russian concession. Our problem is not with Russia; our problem is the current situation," the Prime Minister emphasized.
He added that various models are being discussed at a conceptual level, as outright termination of the contract is not a friendly move.
"A friendly option would be for our Russian partners to sell the concession rights to a third party at a normal market price. Experts are already naming the amounts, objectively assessing how much this could cost, and we're talking about a fairly significant sum given the current situation," Pashinyan said, noting that this option may not be entirely acceptable to his Russian partners.
According to him, other alternatives are also being discussed with experts, including a management model in which one stake would be retained and the other would be disposed of in a way that would preserve the minority stake.
The prime minister also raised the possibility of splitting the license into two parts, since the railway, infrastructure, and infrastructure use are currently combined into one package.
"Work is underway to determine the point at which we can find this amicable solution," Pashinyan said.-0-
