I see that there are various discussions and comments regarding the "unimpeded road." I say, give whatever comment you want, the document states that these efforts should include five terms: territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity, inviolability of borders. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during Wednesday’s question-and-answer session with the government at the National Assembly of Armenia.

"We [i.e. Armenia] have that terminology in our existing legislation today. We have unimpeded transport communication within the framework of the EAEU, within the framework of the CIS. It does not bring any new element to our legal and contractual base, it has been there for a long time," he said.

Referring to the 99-year lease of the Syunik Province road, Pashinyan said: "When we study the legal and contractual base, the legislation of the parties is also studied. We do not have a ‘road lease’ institution in our legislation, we cannot do such a thing. Instead, we have told our American partners that what you call a ‘lease’ in the US is called a ‘construction right’ in our legislation. In the legislation, this right has a range of possibilities, including the possibility of leasing for up to 99 years. We did not invent this.

The peculiarity of the ‘construction right’ is that after the expiration of that period, everything that is in that area becomes the property of the Republic of Armenia. Why is the investor interested in the term here? Because the investor says, ‘Listen, I will put money there, whatever I build will become your property, will you give me a term so that the money I gave will return?’ This is very simple business logic,” the premier said.

He noted that such a right still operates in Armenia’s Syunik Province today.

“In the Republic of Armenia, both the right to build and concession management mechanisms operate,” Pashinyan said, in particular.

“Any interpretation of any word is enclosed in the five terms I mentioned: territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity, inviolability of borders. This is the framework. Nothing can happen outside our legislation,” concluded the Armenian PM.