“Shooting for Peace” – this is how the Russian “Kommersant” headlined today’s extensive article on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border tension, Azatutyun writes. Referring to its source in Russian state structures, “Kommersant” writes that the existing problems are connected with the fact that the border between the two countries is not demarcated and delimited. “There are enclaves, there are villages that are considered occupied. There is, for example, the Davit-Bek-Goris road, which in some places enters the territory of Azerbaijan.
Moscow is trying to help resolve these issues. But the process is not easy. “So far there have been only consultations on delimitation, but the establishment of a relevant commission has not been announced,” a Russian official, whose name was not released, told Kommersant. According to the Russian newspaper, the demarcation may start during the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, but it is not yet known when that meeting will take place. “Kommersant” writes that the parties should exchange territories after starting the demarcation process, and official Yerevan still does not dare to take that step. – It is obviously more difficult for the Armenian authorities to exchange territories.
Nikol Pashinyan remained in power with difficulty after the war lost in 2020. “If it turns out that Yerevan has given in or is going to give something to Baku again, the Prime Minister of Armenia will definitely have new problems.” “The situation, to put it mildly, is not good.” RBK on the socio-economic situation in Artsakh The Russian press extensively covers the situation in the part of Artsakh, which remains under the control of the Armenian side, where the Russian peacekeepers are stationed. Both the press and Russian analysts regularly stress that the Armenians left in Karabakh associate their security with Russian peacekeepers, worried that the peacekeepers may leave Karabakh in four years. Referring to the official data of Artsakh, the Russian RBK writes in an extensive article “How Nagorno Karabakh lives a year after the war” that before the war 150 thousand people lived in Karabakh after the war 120 thousand remained. Moreover, the Russian periodical notes that after the war, a significant part of Karabakh Armenians want to leave Karabakh forever. There are two reasons: the main issue is security, and the second reason is the economy, which will be very difficult to restore after the war.
The Russian RBK has studied the socio-economic situation in Artsakh in detail, concluding that the situation, to put it mildly, is not good. Referring to Stepanakert, the Russian periodical writes: “Two years ago, Yerjan financed about 50-60% of the NKR budget. “Armenia’s money now makes up 90 percent of the unrecognized republic’s budget.” As a result of the war, a year ago, all the branches of the rapidly developing Karabakh economy suffered. Electricity production, in particular, has decreased almost 3.5 times. Karabakh was deprived of 29 out of 36 hydroelectric power plants. Another serious problem is water. As a result of the war, not only the water security of Karabakh but also of Armenia was violated. Referring to a Karabakh expert, the author of the article writes that a small part of the Kelbajar region, where the springs of Arpa և Vorotan, which fills Lake Sanaa, are located, has also been handed over to the Azerbaijani side. Mining and processing of open mines (gold, copper, building stones) suffered relatively little, as the Karabakh people were able to maintain the main mines in the Martakert region, but lost some mines in the Kelbajar region, RBK reports. On the other hand, agriculture was seriously affected: after the war, Karabakh lost half of its livestock and 75% of its arable land. The volumes of agriculture have decreased by 54%. Azerbaijan has received most of the agricultural machinery.
SOURCE: http://www.aniarc.am/2021/11/16/kommersant-rbk-16-november-2021/?fbclid=IwAR2mjuFvsMT14M_DJrQQT77c_shlKVlQuPDnSGgSiKCdLhFLUiDMXgq9sk0