ArmInfo. Oleg Belozerov, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways (RZD), will arrive in Yerevan on October 13. Sources familiar with the situation told ArmInfo.
According to sources, Belozerov is scheduled to hold talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on October 14.
The government's press service neither confirmed nor denied this information, stating that they will announce the meeting in due course.
Belozerov's visit to Yerevan was previously announced by the Armenian Prime Minister himself. According to Pashinyan, the meeting's agenda includes the situation surrounding Armenian railways.
As a reminder, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan first proposed selling Russia a railway concession on February 13.
At that time, in a conversation with journalists, he stated that Russia's concessionary management of Armenia's railways creates competitive problems for Armenia, and many international partners want to bypass Armenian territory when implementing infrastructure projects. In this vein, he suggested that Russia consider selling the concession to a third, friendly country. He suggested Kazakhstan, the UAE, or Qatar as examples.
Russia called Pashinyan's assertions groundless and stated that it does not intend to sell the concession for Armenian railways.
As a reminder, South Caucasus Railways CJSC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Russian Railways OJSC. On February 13, 2008, in Yerevan, Russian Railways OJSC and the Republic of Armenia signed a concession agreement on the transfer of the republic's rail transport system to the management of South Caucasus Railways CJSC. According to the agreement, the concession management period is 30 years with the right to extend for another 10 years after the first twenty years of operation by mutual consent of the parties. South Caucasus Railways CJSC's objectives include modernizing the RA railway infrastructure, developing cooperation with states neighboring Armenia, and developing domestic and international passenger and freight traffic. The amount of investment made by the Company is $572 million. South Caucasus Railways CJSC began its operations on June 1, 2008.
