By Nate Ostiller
Russia will be able to transit goods to Armenia through Azerbaijan using Baku’s rail networks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk has said.
“The Azerbaijani side has confirmed the possibility of using Azerbaijani railways for the transit of Russian products through Azerbaijan to Armenia,” Overchuk said according to media reports published on Sunday, October 26.
“Russian Railways is currently working with its regional colleagues on the organization of these shipments. We have also given relevant instructions to the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare this new logistics route,” Overchuk said.
The move comes after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced earlier in October that all trade restrictions with Armenia had been lifted, and that the first tranche of goods — a shipment of Kazakh grain — was going to be transported to Armenia from Azerbaijan.
“This is an extremely important announcement, and I would like to express my appreciation to the President of Azerbaijan for this step and to welcome the statement,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in response, adding that the transit of goods from Azerbaijan to Armenia would have been “unthinkable” even a few months ago.
