Russia welcomes launch of rail transport with Armenia via Azerbaijani, Georgian territory - deputy PM
MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Moscow welcomes the launch of railway connections between Russia and Armenia via Azerbaijani and Georgian territory, calling the development a real contribution to the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus.
"For the first time since Armenia gained independence, a direct railway link between our countries is being implemented. This event is a real, tangible contribution to the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus, and evidence of our work for the benefit of regional stability and the economic development of all countries in the region," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said in connection with a Russian grain train crossing the Georgian-Armenian border.
"The new route strengthens Russia's transport connectivity with the states of the South Caucasus, increases the accessibility of the Armenian market for goods from other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU] and also improves the accessibility of the EAEU markets for Armenian producers," Overchuk said.
"A train with the first batch of Russian grain supplied via the new railway route through Azerbaijani territory has arrived in Armenia. One thousand tonnes of grade 3 wheat were exported," the Russian Agriculture Ministry said.
The wheat was shipped from the Ulyanovsk region by the company Grain Gates, with loading and processing carried out at the Dimitrovgrad elevator (part of Demetra Holding Group). The shipment was conducted in cooperation with OJSC Russian Railways.
The development of this direction opens up additional opportunities for increasing exports to the countries of the South Caucasus, the Agriculture Ministry said.
Armenia imports around 450,000-500,000 tonnes of grain per year. Almost all of it comes from Russia. "The new route provides transit communication through Azerbaijani and Georgian territory, which reduces transport costs and increases the resilience of supplies. Exports were previously carried out mainly by road via the land border crossing, as well as by sea through the ports of Georgia," the ministry said.
A train of 15 grain hopper cars from the railway operator Rusagrotrans (part of Demetra Holding Group) passed through Azerbaijani and Georgian territory and crossed the border into Armenia for subsequent delivery to the destination station - Dalarik of the South Caucasus Railway, Grain Gates said.
"We consider this route an important element of diversifying export logistics. Its use strengthens the resilience of supplies of Russian agricultural products to the countries of the region," Grain Gates CEO Ilya Aliyev was quoted as saying.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, the resumption of railway transit became possible after Azerbaijan decided to lift restrictions on the movement of goods towards Armenia. The corresponding agreements were reached in October 2025 with the participation of the governments of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and are a direct result of the work of the trilateral working group of the countries' deputy prime ministers. This opened up the possibility of direct supplies of Russian agricultural products to Armenia by rail for the first time since the early 1990s.
It is planned that another 132 wagons of wheat will be sent along this route by the end of January 2026, the Russian Transport Ministry said. Supplies of other goods are also being worked on.
