Armenian PM Pashinyan sets up working group on South Caucasus Railway concession efficiency problems
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has set up a joint working group with Russian Railways (RZD) that is to find, within three months, ways to resolve problems with the efficiency of the concession management of South Caucasus Railway and to define next steps. According to Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1022-A, the group was created following an agreement reached on October 14 at a meeting between the prime minister and the CEO of RZD.
On October 14, Nikol Pashinyan met Oleg Belozerov, CEO and chairman of the board of RZD. The prime minister said that, given the possibility of unblocking regional transport infrastructure, the government aims to make Armenia’s railways competitive and integrate them into the rail networks of neighbouring countries and the international rail network. The sides discussed projects to rebuild the Gyumri-Akhurik-Turkish border and Yeraskh-Nakhijevan rail sections, as well as infrastructure development, management efficiency and ways to resolve current problems under the concession management of South Caucasus Railway.
The working group has 8 members: 4 from the Armenian government and 4 from the Russian side. It is headed by Davit Ivanyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The Armenian side also includes Mnatsakan Safaryan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Edgar Mkrtchyan, Deputy Minister of Finance, and Artak Papyan, head of the railway and water transport policy department at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.
The Russian members, who joined by agreement, are Alexey Shilo, Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia, Vyacheslav Pavlovsky, Deputy CEO of RZD, Anton Kozlov, head of RZD’s foreign projects and international cooperation department, and Alexey Melnikov, CEO of South Caucasus Railway.
South Caucasus Railway, an RZD subsidiary, has run Armenia’s railway since 2008 under a 30-year concession agreement. According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, rail freight reached 1.29 million tonnes in January-August 2026, up 23% year on year. That is 11.3% of all freight carried by all modes of transport.
