Azerbaijan-Armenia trade thaw: Rail fuel exports resume after decades

Azerbaijan has exported petroleum products by rail to Armenia on Thursday, marking a historic shift in normalizing relations between the two countries.

Under this agreement, Azerbaijan sent 22 rail tank cars carrying 1,210 tonnes of AI-95 petrol produced by SOCAR, the state oil company, through Georgia to Armenia, as reported by Baku-based international outlet AnewZ.

The recent shipment took place within the framework of the peace agenda which reached during the meeting between Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian held in Gabala on November 28.

During the highly anticipated meeting, the officials of both countries also discussed confidence building measures through trade and economic & energy ties, severed by decades of conflict.

The reopening of trade routes between two countries will also pave the way for trade expansion across the South Caucasus, cementing ties among neighbouring nations through energy corridors.

Armenia relies on 60 percent of its fuel imports from Russia. It imported 230,000 tonnes of petrol and 175,000 tonnes of diesel in 2024.

The recent development offers a promising opportunity for the countries which were locked in conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In 2025, Armenia and Azerbaijan ended forty-year conflict by signing a peace deal mediated by the Trump administration.