There is no alternative under which TRIPP’s two entrances and two exits would not be from Azerbaijan — there is no other option, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in parliament, commenting on a statement made a day earlier by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.
“TRIPP runs from Azerbaijan’s border to Azerbaijan’s border, and we have said this dozens of times,” he said, according to RFE/RL.
“Who will make the decision at the specific moment of entry and exit?” Marianna Ghahramanyan, an MP from the opposition Strong Armenia parliamentary faction, asked, specifying her question about TRIPP.
“The Republic of Armenia, I am saying this specifically,” Prime Minister Pashinyan insisted.
TRIPP is an Armenian-U.S. project. Yerevan and Washington have agreed that the United States will hold a 74% stake and Armenia 26% in the joint TRIPP Development Company during the first 49 years. If the cooperation is extended for another 50 years, Armenia’s stake will increase to 49%.
The Armenian-U.S. strategic agreement on TRIPP is already undergoing ratification. The Constitutional Court has ruled that the obligations stipulated in the framework agreement on strategic cooperation concerning the project comply with Armenia’s Constitution. The document will now be sent to the National Assembly for ratification.
