Araik Harutyunyan: I can promise that in 30 years Artsakh will be  almost one hundred percent energetically independent and safe  republic

ArmInfo.Energy is the most key and dynamically developing sphere of the Artsakh  economy. The State Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Araik Harutyunyan stated this in a conversation with the ArmInfo correspondent.

"And the most important thing is that we are developing this sphere  in accordance with the strictest international environmental  standards.All the energy of Artsakh is based on renewable hydro  resources, which are considered the world's cleanest in the  ecological terms. If Artsakh was an internationally recognized state,  we would be able to receive considerable funds from international  donors for further development of the sphere, as a country that helps  to solve problems with global warming and other environmental kata  and now I will present the achievements of the sphere in figures: up  to 2007, about 90.5 million kW / h of electricity was produced in the  republic, and 22.55 million kWh were consumed.  Meanwhile, 350  million kW / h of electricity are already produced, and by 2022, we  plan to bring this figure to 800 million kWh at a cost of 400 million  kWh. In this plan, Artsakh can become an energy exporting republic,  "the State Minister said.

Sharing the experience of development of hydropower, he noted that  the pioneer in this sphere is Artsakh HPP. "This is an exemplary  enterprise not only in Armenian, but also in international standards.  A wide investment palette is presented here - entrepreneurs from  Canada, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Armenia, more than 1,000 small  and medium-sized investors. This is the first Open Joint-Stock  Company in this field. Meanwhile, initially it was a 100% state  enterprise, today only 10% of shares remain in the hands of the  state, from which we will get rid in the near future. Subsequently,  the number of HPPs in the republic increased from year to year, "the  State Minister said.

He said that the implementation of another major energy project - the  construction of a hydroelectric power station based on the reservoir  on the Sarsang-Matagis section with a total capacity of 40 MW has  already started today. The investment package of the project exceeds  $ 100 million. Later, Harutyunyan noted, several more HPPs based on  reservoirs will be built in this area. "In general, we are pursuing a  future energy policy that creates the opportunity and not  subsequently to revise the electricity tariffs across the country,  which is a powerful social incentive for the NKR population, insures  against all sorts of disasters," the State Minister said, noting that  the NKR government there are other ambitious plans related to the  development of the energy sphere. "You know that the whole world is  on the way to popularize energy transport as a cheap and  environmentally friendly means of transportation.We also do not  intend to lag behind world trends in this respect.The development of  the energy sphere will enable us to popularize this mode in 30-40  years and in Artsakh I think that by this time we will no longer need  to import gasoline, "Harutyunyan assured.

 In the near future, he stressed, Artsakh intends to develop solar  energy. "I can promise that in 30 years Artsakh will be almost one  hundred percent energetically independent and safe republic," the  State Minister summed up.