RUSSIA ENHANCES ARMENIA’S TRANSIT CAPACITY

The Messenger
Dec 28 2009
Georgia

100% of Armenian Railways now belongs to Russian Railways and it
functions under the name South Caucasus Railways. Its CEO Shepket
Shaidulin held a press conference on December 24 stating that Armenia
is able to, and should, become a transit country and certain steps
are being taken in this direction. He stressed that Armenia is very
well located geographically.

Shaidulin also mentioned Georgia and its ambitions to become a
transit country connecting Europe with India and China through the
Karsi-Akhalkalaki Railways. He stated that the Karsi-Gumri railway
should be used for this purpose, saying that serious steps had been
taken to upgrade this, with the Armenian segment being completely
rehabilitated and reconstructed according to international standards.

An opposition Dashnak Party MP, the economist Ara Nranian, thinks that
South Caucasus Railways should think less about the Armenian track
and more about the Turkish segment. He is very sceptical about the
viability of this way of connecting east with west. He highlighted
the problems suggested by the state of Armenian-Turkish relations
as well as Armenian-Azeri ones. He also suggested that Central Asia
would not be without conflicts in the near future.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress