The prospects of the economic development of Artsakh and implementation of joint programs were discussed by the Cabinet members of Armenia and Artsakh in a consultation chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan.

Greeting the participants, Nikol Pashinyan said, ''Honorable Mr. President, dear colleagues, our agenda following the 44-day war has significantly changed and we considered the restoration of normal life in Artsakh one of the priority. During this period we carried out much work in that direction, but still there is much to be done.

In our recent working meetings with the President of Artsakh we have been discussing that issue more often, noting that the simply assitance programs need to be transformed into development programs, so as to rearticulate the normal life of Artsakh, and restore the normal development path of Artsakh's economy. I am glad we can already note concrete activities to be done in this direction. Here, of course, it's very important that we succeed in finding the ways for launching banking tools in Artsakh, that will support the economic development and establishment of investment atmosphere.

Of course, it's clear that this has numerous nuances and components and we have to make the necessary decisions without haste, but at the same time within a reasonable period, so as we are able to solve the mentioned issues’’.

President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan said, ''Honorable Mr. Prime Minister, dear colleagues, we have been able to preserve social stability in post-war Artsakh thanks to the resources allocated by the Armenian Government. Despite the number of displaced population, we have not encountered serious problems.

Definitely, there are still housing problems, but the social transfers allowed to solve the problems we can see. The targeted policy of the Government of Armenia has solved the social problems, at the same time we have been able to implement some economic programs, but we have to realize that the economy needs investment of much greater resources. We have suffered great losses in all the directions that were the drivers of Artsakh's economic development – agriculture, energy, traditional sectors.

Yesterday we managed to discuss and reach some agreements, of course, your consent will be also necessary, so as our ideas become programs. For achieving a positive demographic situation, we will need to carry out concrete economic programs in addition to the social programs, aimed at ensuring employment and restoring the economy.

But I also want to present an interesting index – according to the state budget bill for 2021 we planned 16-17 billion AMD of our own revenues, but we will definitely surpass the threshold of 30 billion AMD. The largest tax-payer and employer ‘’Base Metals’’ – the Kashen copper mine, already operates at 15-20% of its total capacity and if we succeed in implementing the planned energy and water programs, it will start to operate at 80-90% already from March-April of the next year, which will ensure extra 20-25 billion AMD revenue to the state budget of Artsakh.

We have already started the water programs and will probably complete in 3 months, while much more time is necessary for solving energy issues. But we have started the construction works of a 17 megawatt HPP in Charektat-Getavan section. In the first stage, we will attract resources from different sources, it will become an open joint-stock company, which will allow investors to invest. We have a similar experience with Artsakh HPP, we have set a task to exploit its capacity in the winter of 2022-2023. And we are already planning a project to construct a more powerful high-voltage hydroelectric power plant on the new road. Our second key project is the construction of a 25-megawatt hydroelectric power plant in the Sarsang-Mataghis section, which will give us the opportunity to become self-sufficient.

As for agriculture, a range of projects have already kicked off, particularly in terms of setting up orchards. The people already has a desire for that and our today's discussion will solve a lot of issues. Mr. Prime Minister, I want to once again thank the Government of Armenia under your leadership for operatively responding to all the issues and finding solutions to them''.