Dear compatriots,

 

Today I have convened an enlarged working consultation dedicated to the comprehensive discussion of Stepanakert water supply issues.

 

I must note that during this time there was not a single day that no discussions were held with the participation of responsible persons and that all available opportunities were not used to mitigate the situation. In fact, such a critical situation was caused by abnormal weather conditions, in particular, an unprecedented low level of precipitation and, in parallel, an increase in the capital's population by about 30 % as a result of the war (the population of Stepanakert at the moment is more than 60 thousand people).

 

After discussing all the available possibilities, a decision was made to build a pipeline connecting the capital's water supply system to the Patara river. According to experts, the pipeline will be put into operation within one year, and from next year the people of Stepanakert will no longer have problem with potable water. In parallel to this, today a final decision was made to start the largest economic project in our republic in terms of volume: the construction of the Patara reservoir (according to preliminary calculations, the total cost of the project will be 15 billion AMD). It will provide permanent high-quality potable water to the population of not only the capital, but also about a dozen communities of the Askeran region, as well as make more than 2500 hectares of land irrigated, which significantly contributes to the increase in agricultural production.