Issue has shifted from legal field to political arena – Poghosyan on railway situation

Speaking with Alpha News, political analyst Ara Poghosyan addressed the situation surrounding railway infrastructure, noting that it should be viewed not only in economic but also in political terms.

According to him, the Armenian authorities had stated that the Russian side should restore as quickly as possible those sections of the railway that are under its concession. However, Poghosyan believes that these statements were driven by political calculations.

“Since the South Caucasus Railways have quite large debts, the assumption was that they would be unable to make investments of such scale. Consequently, the issue of revoking the concession and finding another solution could arise,” he said.

According to Poghosyan, the situation changed when the Russian side announced that it was ready to begin restoration of those sections immediately.

“The Russian side’s statement that it is prepared to restore those sections as quickly as possible presumably undermined expectations that, due to financial difficulties, the South Caucasus Railways would be unable to carry out such work,” Poghosyan emphasized.

He added that at this stage, the issue is shifting from the legal field into the political arena.

“If legally the matter seems to be resolved, efforts are now being made to address it through political statements, since the Russian side has declared its willingness to fulfill its concession obligations,” he concluded.