YEREVAN, Armenia - Planning and design work has begun for the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, which is intended to connect mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia.
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan told a government meeting on Oct. 22 that the initial work covers a highway, a railway and power transmission lines. He said preliminary sketches would soon be submitted for public discussion, followed by detailed design work.
Grigoryan said the projects are moving forward before the joint Armenian-U.S. TRIPP Development Company has been formally established. The planning materials accumulated in the meantime are expected to be transferred to the company once it is formed.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the project had entered a practical implementation phase and that Yerevan and Washington were finalizing the company’s establishment. Armenian officials visited the southern Syunik region a day earlier to discuss possible infrastructure locations.
Under the announced framework, the United States would hold 74% of the TRIPP Development Company and Armenia would hold 26%.
The wider project could also include pipelines and fiber-optic links, although the current design phase is focused on the road, railway and power lines.
Sources: Vesti Baku; Report; APA.