By Varak Ghazarian
During a question and answer session in the National Assembly on March 25, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan stated that progress has been made regarding the unblocking of communication channels in the region.
“We had planned to publish a report by March 1, but it was not possible because there was a need for additional expert work,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Grigoryan explained that the main topic of discussion was about the railway-highway that is to be created and was not to be the one that Kommersant published displaying a railway network. He stated that the working group is “talking about the restoration of the existing infrastructure of the Soviet era in every possible way.”
Grigoryan provided details on the current discussions being held by a trilateral working group. The working group was set up under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan. “The trilateral working group on Nagorno-Karabakh continues its work and has already held several meetings,” he stated.
The Deputy Prime Minister informed parliament that two subgroups have been established. One subgroup will undertake work related to technical issues of the infrastructure. The other subgroup will focus on issues such as safety, border, customs, and legal matters. He added that some progress has been made, yet the experts within the subgroups are currently discussing proper solutions to each issue.
Plans include a transport corridor through the southern Armenian region of Syunik between Nakhichevan and Azerbaijani-controlled Karabakh. Additionally, two corridors for Armenia through Azerbaijan are to be created, one to Iran and the other to Russia.
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Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, along with other governmental officials, visited Russia on March 16 to discuss the future of the economic cooperation between Armenia and Russia.
Grigoryan also met with the Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopirkin, on March 24 to discuss Armenian-Russian relations and cooperation between the two countries within the Eurasian Economic Union.
According to provision 9 of the trilateral agreement between Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, all economic and transport links in the region shall be unblocked.