The South Caucasus Railway (SCR) company is not a “free” asset of the Russian company, and Armenia’s demands for any additional payments in the event of a revision of the agreement are unfounded, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said, TASS reports.

This is how Reshetnikov commented on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that Armenia was looking for alternatives to relations with Russia, not only in the economic but also in the political domain.

According to Reshetnikov, Russia has already invested more than 30 billion rubles in the development of the SCR, purchased new rolling stock, and is developing the infrastructure within the framework of existing contractual obligations.

"If these obligations are unilaterally revised and our investor is harmed, we [i.e. Russia] will have grounds to demand [from Armenia] compensation for it," the Russian minister said.

Also, he stated that the question of whether Russia should pay something additional to Armenia in such a situation is unfounded.