Papoyan: Armenia proposes establishing overland cargo transportation at border with Azerbaijan

Armenia is proposing to Azerbaijan to carry out overland cargo transportation along the border between the two countries, Armenia"s Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan said, Report informs via Armenian media.

"In my view, this is a very good time to open the land border between Armenia and Azerbaijan so that cargo arriving by rail to Armenia"s border could then be transferred multimodally onto trucks and transported across the Armenia–Azerbaijan land border. I think there are no circumstances in either Armenia or Azerbaijan that could hinder this. I have the impression that businesses are also ready for this," he noted.

According to him, the preliminary cost of transiting cargo from Azerbaijan to Armenia via Georgian railways was considered relatively high and uncompetitive, but negotiations are still ongoing.

"On one side is the Georgian railway company, and on the other are companies importing grain or gasoline. Naturally, they need to negotiate and find the best option," Papoyan said.

Commenting on the issue of transit tariffs on Georgian railways, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that if the issue is not resolved, economic entities will naturally begin seeking alternative ways to ensure imports and exports.