Kocharyan: Resumption of railway communication through Abkhazia will  be a window of opportunity for Armenia

ArmInfo.  The resumption of railway communication through Abkhazia will be a window of opportunity for Armenia, according to Robert Kocharyan, Armenia's  second president and leader of the opposition "Armenia "bloc. 

The opening of the railway through Abkhazia will have a significant  impact on Armenia's economic opportunities.

In the next episode of the "Big Politics" podcast, the politician  recalled that he had raised these topics in the previous episode, and  just three or four days ago, the Abkhazian Minister of Economy said  that the possibility of opening a railway was being considered. "This  opens a window for us, and it will have a profound impact on our  economic opportunities: there would be a cheaper transport route that  won't depend on Azerbaijan. If they (the current Armenian government  - ed.) change, I can confidently say that it will be possible to  quickly open rail links with Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia, Sochi, and  Krasnodar. Moreover, the minister also mentioned a road. The existing  road through Lars is at an altitude of 2.4 km, and problems arise in  winter. Another road will open for your country; the more roads, the  better," Kocharyan stated.

At the same time, he noted that the road through Azerbaijan is 700 km  longer. The politician emphasized the possibility of a shorter and  safer road to Russia,  without any preconditions. "For Azerbaijan,  the road is a lever of pressure. Tomorrow they will say: 300,000  Azerbaijanis must 'return to Armenia,' otherwise we will close the  road, and so on," the former president noted, adding that one road  always creates a dependency.

It should be noted that Georgia announced earlier that the Ochamchira  terminal had successfully completed test vessel calls and had already  created its first jobs. It was also noted that this transport hub  could become a similar transport corridor to Armenia through Abkhazia  and Georgia. Participants added that the new route could become an  alternative to the congested Verkhniy Lars border crossing, located  on the Georgian- Russian border.

Recall, the Ochamchira container terminal was commissioned in early  2025. Four container trains have already been handled in test mode,  exporting from Russia to third countries and Turkey.

In 2021, there were rumors that the Abkhaz parliament had submitted a  statement to the Russian State Duma declaring that the country was  ready to participate on equal terms in the project to open a railway  connection between Russia and Armenia through Abkhazia. According to  research by the British International Alert NGO, reconstruction of  the Abkhazian railway, which has been inactive since 1991, along the  Sochi-Sukhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan route, will cost $277.5 million, a cost  that will not be recouped for at least 100 years. $251 million is  required to restore the 190-kilometer Abkhazian section of the Psou-  Inguri line, while from Inguri to Zugdidi, the cost will be only  $26.5 million. From Zugdidi to Tbilisi and further to Yerevan, the  line is operational and does not require repairs. It is noteworthy  that, according to official estimates by Abkhazian experts, this cost  is $350-400 million, while their Georgian colleagues believe it will  require no more than $73 million.