The matter of transferring the Armenian railway to another country's concession management remains on our agenda, Armen Grigoryan, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, stated in an interview with Azatutyun, the RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

"This topic is part of our agenda, we will continue to discuss and seek solutions. At the moment, negotiations are ongoing and as soon as we have results, we will naturally announce it," Grigoryan added.

"In general, in order for us to gain a competitive advantage in regional structures, we need to work as quickly as possible, build or reconstruct infrastructure as quickly as possible. The important factor here is speed, as to which side will be able to develop its infrastructure as quickly as possible," said the head of the Security Council of Armenia.

As for the restoration of Armenia’s railway infrastructure in Yeraskh and Akhurik sections, Grigoryan said that negotiations with Russia are continuing. He noted that these sections will also be reconstructed through the state budget of Armenia.

“We understand that the development of infrastructure is not about a piece, it is about the entire infrastructure, it is also about TRIPP [i.e. note the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity project], it is about our railway infrastructure which we have in Armenia, which we need to restore or reconstruct or use what is there, it is about the development of general infrastructure,” Grigoryan said.

When asked whether this means that there is a need to completely modernize the railway network of Armenia, the secretary of the Security Council responded that there is such need in some places.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, part of it was not used. You know, part as iron, was handed over to other countries for money or sometimes, perhaps, without money. This is the task that the entire infrastructure be restored,” Grigoryan added.

“Armenia will work first to gain a competitive advantage, open infrastructure, first invest in infrastructure, and then, in addition to these infrastructures, so that goods and services mainly pass through Armenia,” said the head of the Security Council.

As for the timeframe in which Armenia expects the respective negotiations with the Russian side to be concluded, he said as soon as possible.

“We believe that we should continue the dialogue with the Russian Federation to find a solution to the issues that exist, and negotiations are the main means of this,” said Grigoryan.

And he does not see a crisis in Armenian-Russian relations

“The spectrum of Armenian-Russian relations is very large, and there may be some issues in some parts of that spectrum, but I think there is no crisis,” said the secretary of the Security Council of Armenia.

And regarding the statements made by the Russian side, Armen Grigoryan noted: “I think there is no crisis, as I noted, and these statements are not new. We will continue to work with the same logic that we have worked with in our relations with the Russian Federation, we will continue to talk about our problems and try to find solutions to those problems."

Source: https://news.am/en/news/1038474