The initial price for the transit of cargo from Azerbaijan to Armenia via the Georgian railway has been considered relatively high, non-competitive, but discussions are still ongoing, Armenia's economy minister, Gevorg Papoyan, told Azatutyun, the RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

"On one side is the Georgian railway company, on the other side are companies importing grain or gasoline. Naturally, they need to negotiate, find the best option," the Armenian economy minister said, noting that he does not deal with these issues.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the issue of the transit tariff of the Georgian railway, had said that if the issue is not resolved, then logically, economic entities will look for alternative ways to ensure imports and exports.

Papoyan opened the brackets about that alternative. "In my opinion, it’s a very good time for the land border between Armenia and Azerbaijan to be opened, and for what comes by rail to Armenia’s border and from there to be transported multimodally to trucks and come via the Armenia-Azerbaijan land border. I think there is no circumstance preventing this in either Armenia or Azerbaijan. In my opinion, businesses are also ready for it," the Armenian economy minister emphasized.

Papoyan added that if the Azerbaijani side is ready, they can switch to that method.