"Fact" daily writes:
Armenian-Russian relations are in danger of becoming even worse in the near future. According to our information, the RA authorities have applied to some Western partners to take over and operate the South Caucasian Railway concession. Last week, Nikol Pashinyan announced in an interview to Public Television that Armenia intends to resolve the issue of the Armenian railway under Russian control in a friendly way with Russia. Already on February 13, he announced that his idea about the railway is that any country friendly with Armenia and Russia should buy the right to manage it from Russia.
Pashinyan also added that "due to Russia's management of the revenue stream, we are losing our strategic positions and competitive advantage." This statement of Pashinyan followed the words of the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexey Overchuk that Moscow and Yerevan will start negotiations on the restoration of two sections of the railways of Armenia, which are connected to Azerbaijan and Turkey.
According to Overchuk, such a decision was made "according to the request of the Armenian side and based on the friendly and fraternal feelings towards the people of Armenia".
Such a development, that the Russian Federation will carry out the restoration works of two sections of railways, is not in Pashinyan's interests. On the other hand, the concession contract of "South Caucasus Railway" ends in 2038, although, according to the contract, one of the parties can terminate the contract in 2028. The West forces Pashinyan to implement the solution of the concession agreement as soon as possible.
According to our source, Pashinyan is now secretly negotiating with France and Germany. Earlier, we reported that the issue of the railway was quite extensively discussed in the meeting between Pashinyan and Vance with an expanded composition. The only demand voiced by the Armenian side was that if a new company is to be involved, there should be no Turkish or Azerbaijani capital in that railway company.
The Americans did not promise, instead they stated that they can manage through any company registered in an offshore company, whose real owners will be extremely difficult to find out.
