Russia Has Not Rejected, But Armenia Will Pay for the Reconstruction of the Railway - Pashinyan

Reconstruction of the railway sections from Yeraskh to the Nakhchivan border and from Gyumri to the Turkish border will be carried out at the expense of the Armenian state budget. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press briefing after a government meeting.

In response to a journalist's question whether the decision to implement the work through the state budget means that Russia has rejected the Armenian side's proposal to participate in restoring the railway sections, Pashinyan replied, “No, it does not mean that; construction will be carried out at the expense of the Armenian state budget.”

It should be noted that back in January, Pashinyan stated that Armenia expects Russia to respond promptly regarding the restoration of several railway sections leading to Azerbaijan and Turkey. On August 6, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk also stated that Russia had expressed its readiness to participate in the restoration of two important railway sections at the beginning of the year.

The Armenian railway system has been under the management of the South Caucasus Railway company through a concession since 2008.