YEREVAN, August 26. /ARKA/. Moscow views the Armenian side's statements regarding the transfer of the Russian concession of the South Caucasus Railway as blackmail from Western capitals, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the country is ready to consider selling the rights to the Armenian railway concession to a third party for about $400 million, in order not to miss the opportunity to integrate into the international railway network, while taking into account Russia's interests.
"Given that the issue of transferring the concession to anyone had not been raised before, it can be assumed with a high degree of probability that the Armenian leadership is simply being blackmailed. They demand the removal of the 'Russian factor' in the transport sector, while promising multi-million investments and connections to projects, the economic feasibility of which is hardly apparent. This is quite in the spirit of the unscrupulous games of Western capitals to oust Russia from the South Caucasus region," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement to journalists.
The ministry noted that the arguments from Yerevan, claiming that the 'Russian concession allegedly hinders Armenia from participating in logistics initiatives,' are completely unfounded.
Armenia's Plans for the South Caucasus Railway
In February 2026, Pashinyan did not rule out the possibility of Russia transferring the management rights of the Armenian railway to another country friendly to both Armenia and Russia, particularly Qatar, the UAE, or Kazakhstan.
He also stated that within the framework of the TRIPP project, several countries are proposing to organize railway communication between Nakhchivan and the main territory of Azerbaijan, bypassing Armenia, noting that the Armenian railway is under the management of a Russian company.
On July 30, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan allowed for financial claims of $2 billion against Russia in the context of the South Caucasus Railway concession.
