Civil Georgia, Georgia
Nov. 4, 2004
Russian Railway Chief Proposes Alternative Transportation Routes for
Armenia
Chief of the state-run Russian Railway Company Gennady Fadeev said
while visiting Armenia’s capital, Yerevan on October 3, that the
railway route linking Russia with Armenia via Georgia can be put into
operation within a year.
`In terms of financial and technical possibilities, the transport
corridor Sochi-Sokhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan may be resumed within a year,’
RIA Novosti news agency quoted Fadeev as saying.
However, he added that `questions prevail over answers in this regard.’
He stressed the prospect of increasing the volume of Armenian-Russian
freight transportation through railway ferries.
`The fact that Russian freights are moving to Armenia through the
Ukrainian and Georgian ports of Ilichevsk and Poti, respectively, is
nonsense,’ Fadeev said.
He said it is quite possible to open a ferry route between the Russian
port of Kavkaz and the Georgian port of Poti, which will be three times
cheaper than the current route via the Ukrainian port. Fadeev also
added that `the opinion of the Georgian side is very important in this
regard.’
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress