The Azerbaijanis, one way or another, have roads for themselves. But I am confident that at some phase they will use our roads as well. Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan told this to reporters at the National Assembly on Monday—and addressing the question of why Azerbaijan is not responding to Armenia’s proposal regarding the use of Armenian roads.

“I assume they are waiting for a full settlement, after which they will start using our roads. I see absolutely no cause for concern; it is simply a matter of approach. They think everything should be finalized and all at once; we think it can be done in parallel,” the Armenian economy minister added.

Asked how profitable it is to import wheat via Azerbaijan, Papoyan replied: “I will describe a situation like this. So, last year at this time, I was looking at the invoices—we received wheat from Russia at the border for 190–200 dollars. Today wheat prices are 275; the price has increased. Now, can this, for example, help us receive it faster, more smoothly, receive [it] 10 or 20 dollars, for example, cheaper? Yes. I want to say [that] other factors have a greater impact. Here we might reduce the price by 20 dollars in this way, but look—due to one [other] factor, the price has increased by up to 85 dollars.”

“Can we expect it to be cheaper? Yes, it will be cheaper, it will be faster. The next logical question may follow it, as to how much this will affect the price of bread [in Armenia]. I cannot answer that question. That is, so many factors impact [it]. For example, let’s say [the Upper] Lars [motorway between Russia and Georgia—and which leads to and from Armenia] is closed because there is a snowstorm or a mudslide—what do we do? We start using our reserve wheat; otherwise there would be no bread in the country. Now in this case, we will not turn to that reserve wheat. And what will we have if they do not repair Lars for a month?” the Armenian economy minister added.