SOCAR Sends First Gasoline Shipment to Armenia as Transit Channels Reopen via Georgia

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR has dispatched its first shipment of domestically produced fuel to Armenia, a development that officials and analysts are treating as one of the clearest commercial signals yet of the changing regional climate between the two neighbors. The delivery took place on December 18, when a freight train operated by Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) carried 22 rail tank cars loaded with about 1,220 tons of AI-95 gasoline. The cargo is traveling to Armenia via Georgia, reflecting the continued reliance on third-country transit routes even as direct connectivity discussions advance.

Officials on both sides have linked the shipment to an earlier understanding reached on November 28, when Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan met in Gabala and agreed in principle on the delivery of 22 wagons of gasoline to Armenia. The fuel shipment comes against a broader backdrop of transport normalization. In October, President Ilham Aliyev announced that Azerbaijan was lifting restrictions on the transit of goods to Armenia—measures that had been in place since the early 1990s. Reuters described the move as a confidence-building step tied to the post-conflict diplomatic trajectory.

That policy change quickly translated into freight movement. In November, Armenia received wheat shipments routed through Azerbaijan and Georgia, including cargoes originating in Russia and Kazakhstan—an early test case for reopened transit corridors before energy products entered the equation. The political frame has also shifted since the August 8, 2025 Washington meeting, where Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint declaration with U.S. President Donald Trump present—an agreement that publicly emphasized reopening transport and economic links as part of a broader peace roadmap.see here for more details: state.gov+2president.az+2

For now, the gasoline shipment is being presented as a commercial transaction rather than a government-to-government energy arrangement. But its symbolism is difficult to miss: after decades of closed routes and minimal trade, fuel moving by rail—through a functioning transit channel—marks a tangible step from diplomatic statements toward economic reality.

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