SEPARATIST KARABAKH SEEKS “ENERGY INDEPENDENCE”

Regnum, Moscow
18 Mar 06

18 March: Under a long-term energy programme developed by the
government of Nagornyy Karabakh, this year will see the start of the
construction of a cascade of three hydroelectric power stations on the
River (?Trga) and the Madagis hydroelectric power station, which will
allow Nagornyy Karabakh to meet its domestic demand for electricity,
our Regnum correspondent in Stepanakert quoted the Nagornyy Karabakh
minister for territorial administration and [development of] production
infrastructure, Arnold Abramyan, as saying. Abramyan said that Nagornyy
Karabakh’s water resources have a great energy potential, and that
the implementation of relevant programmes will make it possible to
use them efficiently for both energy and irrigation purposes.

A total of 17 small hydroelectric power stations are to be built,
which will ensure Nagornyy Karabakh’s energy independence. Moreover,
electricity generated will exceed the demands of the population
three-folds.

For the time being, Nagornyy Karabakh’s main energy donor is
the Sarsang hydroelectric power station on the River Tartar which
generates 65m kWh of electricity a year. The rest of electricity that
the republic needs is exported from Armenia.

The territorial administration and production infrastructure minister,
Armo Tsaturyan, said that the republic’s state budget envisages 250m
drams [569,000 dollars] for the development of the energy sphere in
2006, including 40m for the capital – Stepanakert.

However, the minister noted that this amount is clearly not enough
to resolve the complex of problems existing in this sphere.