Road works in Armenia halted over bitumen shortage from Russia

Road paving that began in the summer has been suspended in Armenia’s Ararat and Armavir provinces because imports of bitumen from Russia have almost completely stopped amid tensions between Yerevan and Moscow, the newspaper Hraparak reports.

The paper notes that road works have stopped in a number of Armenian communities due to the lack of bitumen. It names tensions in relations between Yerevan and Moscow as the cause of the situation.

According to the newspaper, paving that started in the summer in the Ararat and Armavir provinces had to be interrupted because there is not enough bitumen.

“Bitumen used to be imported from Russia, but now, amid tensions in Armenian-Russian relations, it is hardly being brought in, which has led to serious problems in carrying out the authorities’ favorite work, paving,” the publication says.

The paper also points out that bitumen reaches Armenia from Iran as well, but Iranian products are inferior in quality to Russian ones.