Artsakh State Minister: Azerbaijani blockade also causes economic  problems in republic

ArmInfo. In the conditions of the ongoing blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, issues related to ensuring the normal life of the population were discussed at the  meeting of the Operational Headquarters chaired by State Minister of  the Republic of Artsakh, Chief of the Operational Headquarters Ruben  Vardanyan today.

According to the press service of the NKR government, Ruben Vardanyan  noted that the road remains closed, and problems have already begun  to arise in the economic sector as well. A number of institutions-  enterprises are forced to stop their activities, which causes  additional tension both financially and socio- economically. The  State Minister instructed to analyze the situation and submit  proposals for possible mitigation of its consequences.

The situation in the food, medicine, gasoline and diesel markets was  reported, problems were presented.  Issues related to providing the  population with essentials in various scenarios, as well as the  possibility of implementing the relevant regulations were discussed.   The situation in the fields of energy supply, water supply and  infrastructure was also presented. In order to ensure the  uninterrupted operation of these systems, it has been emphasized that  it is necessary to continue to maintain the economic regime.  

On December 12 at 10:30 am, a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian  clothes blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway, again "for  environmental reasons." Armenian telegram channels have already  identified employees of the special services of Azerbaijan among the  so-called ecologists. The Azerbaijanis are behaving loosely, trying  to provoke Russian peacekeepers, and have set up a tent on the only  road linking Artsakh with Armenia. The road remains closed to this  day. The so-called Azerbaijani environmentalists, who were lit up in  the photo with a demonstration of the symbol of Turkish "Gray Wolves"  ultranationalists, said that they would remain on the road until the  head of the peacekeeping contingent, Andrei Volkov, arrived. In  addition, from the evening of December 13, Azerbaijan also shut off  the valve of the gas pipeline through which gas is supplied to the  population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The gas supply was restored three  days later. It is noteworthy that the Azerbaijanis, who blocked the  Stepanakert-Goris highway after environmental requirements, also  voiced political ones, namely the control and activities of the  Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of  Azerbaijan throughout the territory of the Republic of Artsakh.  

We add that the first provocations by the so-called environmentalists  began on December 3 with the blocking of the Berdzor (Lachin)  corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia. Over the past week, the  enemy side periodically undertook various kinds of provocations both  against the Russian peacekeepers in the NKR and against the civilian  population. And already on December 10, a group of Azerbaijanis tried  to get into two mines operating in the NKR, however, the Karabakh  people did not allow them to get into the mines.  

We emphasize that on December 25 a large rally was held in  Stepanakert demanding to unblock the road of life. According to some  estimates, up to 70 thousand people attended the rally. In total,  about 120 thousand citizens live in the Republic.