Armenian ex-president reiterates need to launch railway through Abkhazia

ArmInfo. The launch of the railway through Abkhazia will dramatically reduce Armenia's dependence on Azerbaijani railways. This was stated by the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, the prime ministerial candidate from the Armenia bloc, in an interview with Armenia TV.

Responding to a question about the possibility of opening a railway through Abkhazia and whether this route could become part of the TRIPP project, Kocharyan noted that this is a separate program. "I tried to implement it back then. I met with Shevardnadze (Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze - ed.), it was September, I don't remember what year, the early 2000s. He wasn't opposed. But he said, 'If you come to an agreement with the Abkhazians,'" Kocharyan said. "We began negotiations with the Abkhazians. Ardzinba was ill, quite seriously. That same year, there was a change of power in Georgia. Mikheil Saakashvili, who was very aggressive on this issue, came to power, and the program was halted," Kocharyan said, adding that the project could be implemented, and that all parties would benefit from its implementation. The politician emphasized that the Abkhaz railway issue simply needs to be removed from the political context, from the context of the territorial dispute, focusing on its economic component. "What will this give us? It's a significantly shorter route to the Russian market, 700 km shorter. At the same time, the use of the railway through Abkhazia will dramatically reduce dependence on Azerbaijani railways. This changes everything dramatically. Less dependence and better negotiations with Azerbaijan. Not addressing this issue is short- sightedness or some kind of agreement to avoid moving forward with a better plan for Armenia. I don't understand why this isn't being addressed," he concluded.

As a reminder, 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.

Back in 2021, there was talk that the Abkhaz parliament had submitted a statement to the Russian State Duma declaring that the republic 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 NGO International Alert, reconstruction of the Abkhazian railway between Sochi, Sukhumi, Tbilisi, and Yerevan, which has been inactive since 1991, 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 railway is operational and requires no repairs. It is noteworthy that official estimates by Abkhazian experts place this cost at $350-400 million, while their Georgian counterparts estimate no more than $73 million.