Natural gas supplies to Artsakh from Armenia restored

YEREVAN, January 17. /ARKA/. Natural gas supplies to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from Armenia, disrupted earlier today by Azerbaijan, have been restored, the local natural gas distribution company Artsakhgaz said.

It said repair teams were working to restore natural gas supplies for both in the capital Stepanakert and in the regions by evening.

Natural gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh were disrupted for nearly three weeks in March 2022 after an Azerbaijani-controlled section of the pipeline was knocked out by an apparent explosion and in December 2022.

Armenian and Karabakh officials accuse Azerbaijan of disrupting gas supplies saying it is part of Baku’s efforts to force Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian residents to leave the region.

On January 16 Nagorno-Karabakh announced four-hour daily powers cuts one week after a section of the high-voltage transmission line coming from Armenia was knocked down. The “accident” occurred near the town of Lachin controlled now by Azerbaijan that does not allow Karabakh repair teams to visit the site of accident .

The only road connecting Artsakh and Armenia has been blockaded by Azerbaijan since December 12, 2022. Before the blockade about 400 tons of food was supplied to Artsakh from Armenia daily.

About a thousand people (including several dozen children, have been separated from their families.

All planned surgical operations are suspended. After pressure from the ECHR, following the death of a seriously ill person in a Stepanakert hospital, and thanks to the mediation of the International Red Cross, some patients are being transferred by special convoys to medical centres in Armenia.

Pharmacies are running out of stocks of all medicines.  Fuel is running out, food is running out and shops are empty. Kindergartens are closed because it is not possible to provide food for children

Some 120,000 people (including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly) are on the verge of a humanitarian crisis. -0-