Bello l'articolo sul Caspio e cinesi.Tra l'altro stanno anche finanziando anche un nuovo sistema di gasdotti tra Iran e Armenia dopo quello di Tabriz.
Open Communications: Sargsyan-Ahmadinejad further Armenia-Iran energy and transportation opportunities
President Serzh Sargsyan returned from his visit to Iran earlier this week having signed a number of documents and with hopes that several major projects with the southern neighbor will get off the drawing board soon.
Among the eight documents signed after two days of negotiations were a cooperation memorandum on the implementation of the Armenia-Iran railway project, as well as an agreement about financing the construction of a hydropower plant on the river Arax and the Free Trade Agreement between Armenia and Iran. Sargsyan and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also signed a joint declaration.
Sevak Sarukhanyan, Deputy Director of the Noravank Research and Education Foundation, says while the global financial crisis will have its impact on the implementation of the Armenian-Iranian projects, it still will not cause their suspension since ‘there are important economic preconditions for their implementation.’
“All of these projects give Armenia an opportunity to make steps for overcoming the blockade, and to integrate into the regional and world economy,” he says.
The Iran–Armenia gas pipeline is only one part of economic cooperation. The construction of an oil refinery in Armenia, as well as the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway may promote intergovernmental relations. The realization of such programs cannot be a mere part of Armenian-Iranian relations. It is connected with Iran’s regional and, in some cases, even with international strategy, and it comprises clear political and economic components.
Garnik Asatryan, head of the Department of Iranian Studies at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University, talking about the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway, said ‘the realization of this project may take Armenia out of the road and communication isolation.’
“This is the most serious program between Armenia and Iran being realized during the last 20 years,” he added.
While hosting Sargsyan, the president of the Islamic Republic greatly evaluated the deepening of Armenian-Iranian relations and said that the relations between the two countries are subject to enlargement, since there are ‘common approaches.’
“Our relations are based on mutual respect and trust. The development and stability of Armenia are favorable for the region, and particularly, for Iran. I hope that Armenian-Iranian relations will enlarge also in the international arena,” Ahmadinejad reportedly said.
According to Sarukhanyan, a railway with Iran will allow Armenia to have a shorter railway road also to Central Asia and China -- a circumstance that may prove significant in efforts for getting funding for the construction.
Armenian Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan discussed the issue of the railway during his visit to China last year and, according to official information, it aroused interest of the Chinese side.
Stepan Safaryan, a parliamentarian with the opposition ‘Heritage’ faction, believes it will be impossible to realize the railway construction project solely through bilateral efforts and investments.
“In this respect it is necessary to involve third parties who might participate in the construction of the railway, as well as its financing. In this respect I believe that China, India, and the Gulf states may be interested in this project,” he said.
During President Sargsyan’s visit to Iran RA Minister of Transport and Communications Gurgen Sargsyan and Iranian Minister of Roads and Transportation Hamid Behbahani singed a memorandum of mutual understanding on railway construction that had earlier been inked in Yerevan.
“A working group, headed by the deputies of the two ministers is created. During the upcoming three months it will initiate all the preliminary steps connected with the implementation of the project,” said Gurgen Sargsyan.
As for the railway construction terms, G. Sargsyan stated that there are several various calculations, according to some of which the construction of the railway may take four to five years. It is also hard to say how much it would cost, because it is not clear yet how long (in kilometers) the tunnels would be after the formation of the project.
“The construction of tunnels costs rather high. Anyway, the price may be between $1.5-1.8 billion, depending on the variant of the project,” says G. Sargsyan.
It was announced earlier that the implementation of the project may consist of three phases – a feasibility study, projecting and cartography of the railway, and the main construction works. According to the preliminary estimations, the railway will be 470 kilometers long, including 60 km in the territory of Iran.
As for Armenian-Iranian relations in the oil sphere, Sarukhanyan says Iran is a country exporting crude oil and importing refined oil and petrol. According to him, 40 out of 60 oil wells in the territory of Iran are either used up entirely or partially. Four large and 18 small oil refineries running in Iran do not manage to meet the demand of refined oil products as a result of which Iran currently has to import 40 percent of used oil products from abroad.
“With absence of direct western investments into energy, it is hard to construct new modern plants in Iran. Iranians do not posses modern refining technologies and capacities. There are no attractive economic conditions in Iran for western investors. In this respect, construction of an oil refinery in Armenia is favorable for Iran. And this construction may become a Russian-Iranian joint project,” says Sarukhanyan.
The first announcement of a possible oil refinery construction project was made still in early 2007 during a meeting between the then presidents of Armenia and Russia, Robert Kocharyan and Vladimir Putin.
Sarukhanyan believes that in its turn the construction of the Iran-Armenia railway will connect Iran and Armenia railways into a single line, which (if Meghri also joins by a single line with Armenia’s railway network passing around Nakhijevan) gives the Islamic Republic an opportunity to have a safer and more favorable access to Georgia’s Black Sea ports.
And what would be Iran’s position if Armenia and Turkey achieve normalization in their relations?
Garnik Asatryan says: “Armenia has a strategic importance for Iran, and no matter how the forces are arranged, Iran will never have less interest in Armenia.”
Sarukhanyan believes that the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border may create a new market for Iranian oil refined in Armenia.
“Still last year authorities in Azerbaijan made a decision to close two oil refineries in Baku. Georgian authorities are also hinting on such a possibility. It is not ruled out that in two years there will not be even a single oil refinery in the South Caucasus. And this may create a favorable, new and rather attractive condition for oil products production business and the construction of a new plant,” says Sarukhanyan.
According to him, the construction of the oil refinery is very important for Armenia not only because the energy security of the country would be strengthened, but also an Iran-Armenia oil pipeline and railway would be constructed.
http://www.armenianow.com/?action=vi...g=eng&IID=1231
Per tutti coloro che credono che gli schemini di presunte guerre di civilta, faccian parte della real politik......Tra l'altro la comunita armena di Teheran gode di un forte rispetto da parte delle autorita.
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