Monday, 2 February 2009
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received newly appointed General Executive Director of South Caucasian Railway CJSC Shevket Shaidullin. To begin with, Tigran Sargsyan congratulated Mr. Shaidullin for his appointment to this post of high responsibility. Then, the parties discussed a broad range of topical issues. Tigran Sargsyan noted that recently the holder of the Armenian railways’ concession has been criticized not only by the representatives of business circles, but also on the part of the general public. The problem has been addressed during high-level meetings held with South Caucasian Railway’s former president Vladimir Yakunin, RF President Dmitry Medvedev in Yerevan and with RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Responding to the questions raised and evoking the remedies, Mr. Shaidullin underscored that the Company has embraced a new partnership policy which implies that in addition to being an investing entity, the Company will henceforth design nationwide railway networks and develop projects on the integration with the European transportation networks. Mr. Shaidullin assured that the contractual obligations assumed by his company shall be complied with. Effective cooperation is maintained with the Armenian ministry of transport and communication. Nevertheless, additional arrangements need to be signed with local stakeholders. Currently a social-economic agreement is being drafted through joint efforts.
In turn, Tigran Sargsyan said the Government of Armenia will provide necessary assistance to speed up the pace of north-south railway line construction.
