Today a regular consultation was held with the participation of the heads of relevant government agencies, chaired by the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan said: “Honorable President of the Artsakh Republic, dear colleagues, we are here to discuss our socio-economic sphere agenda, cooperation-related issues, ongoing and upcoming programs that we are implementing in cooperation with the Artsakh Government. I would like to remind you that the restoration of normal life in Artsakh is one of the key provisions stipulated in the roadmap I published on November 18.

It should be noted that we have tangible results at the moment, but of course the volume of work to be done is very large. There is still a lot to do in Artsakh, and it is crucial for us to reaffirm our political determination and commitment to implement this task in full. We should talk not only about the restoration of normal life, but also about further development in Artsakh. Discussions have been held at various levels; joint decisions have been made. Today we will summarize the results of the discussions held so far, and we will decide on what to do next.”

Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan noted in turn: “I first wish to thank the Prime Minister for initiating this meeting. I would also like to thank you for the social programs implemented by the Government of the Republic of Armenia in the post-war period. We boast tangible results in the sense that today most of the population - about 120,000 citizens - live in Artsakh; it seems that we have managed to provide everything they need in terms of restoring normal life in the country.

There are some 30,000 people residing in the Republic of Armenia; fortunately very few have left the territory of the Republic of Armenia. In this connection, I want to go as far back as the 1990s, when we did not manage to repatriate the majority of the population of Martakert region after the war as we failed to respond quickly to their needs.

Housing is our main problem at this stage. The problem of social payments is solved for the next few months, and Artsakh-based households will not have a problem with bread, since there are sufficient amounts to be provided in welfare benefits and lump-sum assistance, but we have a lot to do in terms of housing construction, employment and incomes.

I consider housing to be the main task. Estimates show that at least 5-5.58 thousand apartments should be built over the next 2.5-3 years. Damage compensation is the second important issue; many households have suffered great losses, and we must make a decision in terms of compensation.”