Factor.am of the Republic of Armenia RA writes as follows, in particular: The tenders announced by the Government [of Armenia] for the plans for the restoration of the railway in the Akhurik and Yeraskh sections did not take place.

On September 3 of this year, the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure announced an urgent open tender for the preparation of plans for the reconstruction of the railway sections Gyumri-Akhurik-RA border with Turkey and Yeraskh-RA border with Nakhichevan for the purpose of obtaining cost estimation services. 2 bids were received: from Kazakhstan’s Integra Construction KZ and Uzbekistan’s BOSHTRANSLOYIHA companies.

For the Akhurik section project, the Uzbek company proposed a price of $1.9 million, the Kazakh one - about $3.5 million, and for the Yeraskh section project - $450 thousand and about $890 thousand, respectively.

The bids of both companies were rejected because of these companies not having a license. As a result, on October 6, the tender was declared invalid. It is noteworthy that according to the tender invitation, the planning documents had to be drawn up and submitted in Armenian and Russian languages.

It turns out that the invitation was also addressed to business representatives of the Russian-speaking community. The documents note that the financing of the work will be from the RA state budget. In the case of both sections, the railway capacity should be envisaged for up to 10 million tons of cargo per year, the working regime - around the clock and year-round.

The plans should also have included the construction or reconstruction of railway station buildings. The plans should have been ready within 5-8 months.”