This is your 12-minute Tuesday report in 3014 words.
##government wants to find alternatives to Georgia's problematic Upper Lars cargo route
It's the only land route Armenia currently has to its main trade partner Russia. It's closed "half of the year" because of bad weather, bad traffic, or bad politics between Georgia and Russia. Armenian exporters face the consequences.
Economy Ministry: we drafted a bill that offers to reimburse Armenian companies if they use the Poti-Caucasus Port-Poti ferry.
The proposal is necessary because our only land route to Russia is routinely closed, causing problems for Armenian cargo. Since ferry is more expensive than land, and can reduce Armenian product's competitiveness in foreign markets, we are willing to compensate.
Our trade is growing with EAEU member states, yet Upper Lars remains our only land connection to them.
Upper Lars can only handle 170 cargo and 200 passenger vehicles per day in two directions. The traffic exceeds this capacity by orders of magnitude during certain periods. Armenian vehicles cross it 10,000 times a year.
The approval of the bill will help Armenian cargo companies during the seasonal high-fee periods. This can greatly increase cargo exports and make Armenian products more competitive. //
The subsidy for one-way ferry transfer is Φ0.5M, or Φ1M for two-way.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071267.html
##Pashinyan discussed the Persian Gulf-Black Sea railway project during Georgia trip
Pashinyan: I believe the launch of the Gulf-Sea international route can boost regional cooperation.
Bilateral cooperation in the field of transport is a priority for us. We view relations with Georgia not only in the sphere of bilateral but also in the sphere of regional cooperation. We can help each other.
We have two Gulf-Sea route projects: vehicle and railway.
Vehicle: we are developing the North-South highway network in Armenia. It connects the Georgian border to the Iran border. We're working with Georgian and Iranian colleagues to make the road more efficient. If we are also able to come to an agreement with Azerbaijan, this project could expand and become North-South and East-West.
The Sochi and Brussels meetings created the opportunity to possibly come to an agreement with Azerbaijan over restoring vehicle routes. As for railway connection, we already have an agreement with Aliyev over principles. It's abo
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Your 11-minute Wednesday recap in 2819 words.
##BOOKMARKED: in case you missed ex-Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan's PART 3 of war postmortem analysis
He discusses military expenditures, army size, command and control issues.
https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/pk1ydh/part_3_of_war_postmortem_exmod_spokesman_artsrun/
##Defense Minister Karapetyan met the director of the Russian-owned South Caucasus Railway
The railway giant operates the Armenian network. The MOD and director Melnikov discussed the physical condition of railways, areas of development, and cargo transfers. The MOD praised the railway's role in passenger and military equipment deliveries in Armenia.
The government recently announced that the railway giant agreed to make large-scale investments within the next few years after negotiations.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1062615.html
##Pashinyan about unblocking regional communication routes and relations with neighbors:
The need to improve relations with our neighbors was mentioned in my 5-year plan, approved by the parliament last month.
As part of that agenda, I have already visited Iran and will visit Georgia today. A key topic of discussion will be the regional communication routes. In this context, I emphasize the importance of the North-South project, which connects the Armenia-Iran border with the Armenia-Georgia border.
It is very important for Armenia to establish a railway link with Russia and Iran. To resolve this issue, AM-RU-AZ are currently discussing the unblocking of regional communication routes. We are determined to make an effort to achieve results while realizing that Azerbaijan also expects communication with Nakhijevan.
Turkish president recently made remarks regarding the normalization of relations and restoring the Armenia-Turkey railway link. We are prepared to discuss it. It's about using the Caucasus to connect north-south and east-west. Russia agreed to actively assist in the normalization of our relations. The US, EU, and France are also interested in this process. Needless to say, China and India are interested in using the regional communication routes.
Long-term regional peace and development is our strategy. It's easy to say it, but its implementation will require wise and pragmatic efforts. Armenia is prepared for such efforts.
We are also ready to resume the negotiations with Azerbaijan within the OSCE framework. Another important area
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I am looking for information to either prove or discredit this theory. Thank you!
