The main problems of the renewal of the railway communication between Armenia and Turkey are considered. The role of Russia as the initiator of the renewal of communication between the countries in 2008-2009 was revealed. In this regard, the peculiarities of the development of the project of the creation of the international transportation and logistics center (ILC) "Akhuryan" on the Armenian-Turkish border are analyzed. Based on the study of archival materials, the historical prerequisites of the project are revealed. Particular attention is paid to the problems of the functioning of the Russian railways in Armenia due to the limited integration opportunities. The main technical, economic and geopolitical problems of the ILC project are identified.

The geopolitical aspects of a number of energy projects in South Caucasus are presented. The major pipeline projects in the region such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, Iran-Armenia and others are estimated. The basic problems of confrontation and cooperation among Russia, USА, EU, Turkey and Iran for the dominance in the energy market of the South Caucasus are studied. Russia’s pipeline strategy in the region is analyzed; its strengths and weaknesses are identified. The significance of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the development of regional pipeline maps is revealed. The degree of influence of regional instability and a number of territorial conflicts on the pipeline system of South Caucasus is defined.

The basic problems of Russia’s presence in the South Caucasus through historical and retrospective analysis are identified. The geopolitical component of Russia’s foreign policy toward the region since the ХVII century was shown. The configuration of the main political forces in the South Caucasus was analyzed, Russian nowadays influence in the political and economic processes in the region was estimated. The basic geographic, geo-economic and other benefits of the South Caucasus were shown. In particular the transit potential of the region was assessed. Weaknesses of Russian geopolitics in the South Caucasus direction were identified, some recommendations were made.