About 40 communities in Syunik and Gegharkunik regions to be included in the list of border communities and become eligible to government support

YEREVAN, February 11. /ARKA/. About 40, mostly rural communities in Armenia's Syunik and Gegharkunik regions are expected to be included in the list of border communities and become eligible to social support, envisaged by the law, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mesrop Arakelyan said in the parliament on Wednesday.

He said residents of these communities will be able to take advantage of a set of benefits, in particular, they will be exempt from property taxes from January 1, 2021, and from February they will receive partial compensation for utility bills (gas, electricity and irrigation water).

Arakelyan stressed that the children of these communities will be provided with compensations for school textbooks. He said a working group has been created to resolve the socio-economic problems of Syunik region.

After the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on November 9, more than 190 settlements in Artsakh and adjacent seven regions came under the control of Azerbaijan.

As a result, the borders of the Syunik region in the south of Armenia (including the administrative center of Kapan) appeared to be in close proximity to the new borders of Azerbaijan, drawn up during the Soviet times.

Residents of some settlements in Syunik were protesting against the decision of Armenian armed forces to dismantle their military posts and withdraw from strategically important heights, which came under control of Azerbaijani armed forces. -0-