The Vardenis-Martakert Highway (white) will connect to the Goris-Stepanakert and North-South highways (red), built in previous years with telethon funds.
YEREVAN (Arka)—The construction of the 72 mile-long Vardenis-Martakert road that will link Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh will commence in 2014 January, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund said Friday.
The highway is expected to be a boon to the further socio-economic development of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia alike. By functioning as a direct road link, it will become a second lifeline between northern Armenia and northern Karabakh, significantly cutting down travel times, boosting the economies of Karabakh communities along its path, stimulating inter-community ties, and vastly improving geographic access for implementing local development initiatives.
Currently the only land-travel link between Karabakh and Armenia is the Goris-Stepanakert highway.
The construction of the second road will be funded by donations raised by the annual Thanksgiving Day Armenia Fund Telethon that secured more than $22.6 million for the project.
The Fund said today it had signed contracts with companies which won a tender to build the road.
Over the 20 years of its existence, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has funded construction of roads (over 295 miles), water mains (321 miles), gas pipelines (89 miles) and 43 miles of power lines. Apart from this, it constructed or reconstructed 334 schools, 424 dwelling buildings, 70 public health institutions, and 53 sports and cultural centers.
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund was established in 1992 to implement projects of national importance and help develop infrastructures in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In general, projects worth a total of over $235.8 million were implemented in Armenia and Karabakh over 20 years of the Fund’s existence.