Expert: The 9th paragraph of November Statement is a ticking time  bomb for Armenia

ArmInfo. The 9th paragraph of the Trilateral Statement of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan of November 9, 2020 on unblocking regional communications is in reality  a ticking time bomb forArmenia. Expert from the Armenian Institute of  International and Security Affairs (AIISA), Emma Begijanyan expressed  a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"Neither then, nor now, I did not share the optimism and inspiration  of the representatives of the ruling party, calculating the economic  benefits of Armenia from the expected process of unblocking  communications. And I am still convinced that paragraph 9 is the most  dangerous for our country in terms of the expected prospects and  geo-economic scenarios In the end, I do not at all think that  flooding our market with the same low-quality and cheap Turkish goods  will contribute to the development of our economy, and this will not  even proceed from the interests of our consumers, "she said.

The 9th paragraph of the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020,  in particular reads: "All economic and transport links in the region  are unblocked. Armenia guarantees the safety of transport links  between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan  Autonomous Republic in order to organize the unimpeded movement of  citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions. Control over  transport links is carried out by the Border Service of the Russian  Federal Security Service. By agreement of the Parties, the  construction of new transport communications linking the Nakhichevan  Autonomous Republic with the western regions of Azerbaijan will be  ensured. "

The same expected construction - the restoration of the Horadiz -  Meghri - Ordubad - Julfa - Yeraskh railway section Begidzhanyan is  assessed as generally unpromising for Armenia.

Begijanyan, in general, considers the same expected construction to  restore Horadiz-Meghri-Ordubad- Julfa-Yeraskh railway section  unpromising for Armenia. According to her estimates, the railway  route to Russia through the entire territory of Azerbaijan does not  contain any economic preferences for Armenia.  First of all, due to  the lack of security for transported goods, not to mention people.

In this light, she noted with regret that the results of the 44-day  war did not lower the degree of Armenophobia in Azerbaijan, but also  increased it further, giving additional impudence to the Aliyev  regime. According to the expert, the same situation on the border  with Azerbaijan during the whole year does not stimulate the  implementation of the railway-unblocking project, not to mention its  cost for Armenia.

On December 16, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed the  agreement reached at the meetings with the President of Azerbaijan in  Sochi and Brussels on the construction of the  Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway section. In this regard,  he instructed to begin preparations for construction on its Armenian  section. According to him, Armenia and Azerbaijan plan to complete  the construction within 2-3 years.

According to preliminary calculations of the RA Ministry of  Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, the restoration of  the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway in Armenia will cost  more than $ 226 million. $ 221 million is needed to restore the  45-kilometer section in Meghri, another $ 5 million for restoration  kilometer section in Yeraskh.