Armenia Set to Export Goods to Azerbaijan for First Time, Making Trade Bilateral

Armenia is on the point of making its first commercial export sales to Azerbaijan, a step that would convert a one-directional flow of fuel and transit grain into genuine two-way commerce between economies that had no legal trading relationship for more than three decades.

Speaking on 1 September, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said the transactions had already been agreed. "In the coming days, you will learn that Azerbaijani companies have purchased goods from Armenian companies," he said in remarks reported by JAMnews. "Armenia will sell goods to Azerbaijan. That will already constitute bilateral trade." Mirzoyan named neither the companies nor the product categories involved.

From one-way flow to two-way trade

Until now the commercial traffic has run in a single direction. Azerbaijan began shipping petroleum products to Armenia by rail through Georgia in December 2025, the first such deliveries in the post-Soviet period, and has since acted as a transit route for wheat consignments from Kazakhstan and Russia destined for Armenian buyers. Armenia has recorded no official commercial export to Azerbaijan in the same period.

The product list has been under discussion since the start of the year. In January 2026, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan said the two sides had exchanged inventories of candidate goods covering aluminium foil and the raw materials used to make it, ferromolybdenum, textiles, cut flowers, greenhouse produce including tomatoes and peppers, and raw materials for brandy production.

Those categories matter commercially. Aluminium foil and ferromolybdenum are Armenia's two most exportable industrial products, and greenhouse produce is a sector where Armenian growers have spare capacity but limited nearby markets since the closure of traditional northern routes became a recurring risk.

Politics moving in step with commerce

The announcement came as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek. Both leaders pointed to the Washington summit of 8 August 2025, the joint declaration signed there and the initialling of a peace agreement as the framework under which the normalisation is proceeding.

According to readouts of the meeting, the petroleum shipments, the grain transit and the establishment of trade relations were all cited as practical evidence of the peace process. The two also discussed implementation of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the connectivity project known as TRIPP that emerged from the Washington talks.

Separately, Pashinyan told reporters in Bishkek that Armenia is "making progress toward establishing interstate relations with Azerbaijan and Turkiye," according to APA. Armenian diplomats also visited the Akhurik checkpoint on the Turkish border and the nearby Akhuryan railway station on the Gyumri-Kars line, where officials stressed the importance of restoring the route.

What it means for business

For companies on both sides, the practical significance is less about volume than about precedent. First transactions establish the payment channels, customs classifications and certification pathways that later trade depends on. Armenian exporters currently route almost everything through Georgia or Iran; a direct eastern outlet shortens delivery distances for producers in Syunik and Vayots Dzor in particular.

The caution is that a handful of company-to-company purchases is not a trade regime. There is still no bilateral trade agreement, no reopened direct border crossing for commercial freight, and no published customs procedure. Until those exist, volumes will stay small and reversible.

Further Reading

• Armenia and Azerbaijan Open New Trade Channels as Peace Dividends Emerge
• Aliyev Visits Georgia as Armenia-Azerbaijan Trade Bypasses Russia at Record Pace