BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 24
Trend:
By the end of the year, we will fully provide all the liberated territories with energy, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to editor-in-chief of Russian influential “Natsionalnaya oborona” magazine, well-known military expert Igor Korotchenko, Trend reports.
“Large-scale work is currently under way, primarily electrification. By the end of the year, we will fully provide all the liberated territories with energy. Hydroelectric power stations with a capacity of 20 megawatts have already been restored in Lachin, Kalbajar and Sugovushan. They are already providing energy. Several substations have already been built. Roads are being built in all directions. Victory Road to Shusha, then the second main highway Fuzuli-Shusha, which will be shorter. Roads to the Armenian border in Zangilan, Gubadli, the tunnel from Goygol to Kalbajar. I was there recently and inspected the progress of work. Plus the road from Fuzuli to Aghdam, from Fuzuli to Hadrut, to Jabrayil. In other words, there is a connection between these cities. We have allocated $1.3 billion this year for the program on the restoration of the liberated territories alone, of which, I would say, that about $400 million has not been allocated yet, because we comply with all the bidding, planning and design procedures. The city of Agdam has already started to be rebuilt, the master plan has been approved. Shusha city – the master plan has been approved. In Shusha, I recently laid a new housing complex for 25 houses. I think they will be built within a year, a maximum of one and a half years, and we will already be able to return people to Shusha. But an even bigger problem is minefields. The few maps of minefields the Armenian side gave us are about 25 percent accurate. But they won’t give us most of the maps of minefields, so this is a very time-consuming job. It cannot be done quickly. No matter how much money you have, it takes time. And, of course, there are such targeted projects as “smart village” in Zangilan district. Now we will carry out one pilot project in each other district so that we can already start returning people. I do not want to give a specific date, but I think - I actually don’t think but I know this for sure – that first people will move into Zangilan next year, perhaps even by the end of this year. As for other villages, it is also possible during the year. As for large cities, it will probably take some time, but we will plan it all in stages. There is a phased construction and settlement process. This is also very difficult work not only in terms of construction, but also in terms of logistics, provision of jobs, means of subsistence, land plots, equipment. This is a very large amount of work that we are doing ourselves and at our own expense. We did not apply for any loans, and if anyone wants to help, of course, we will be glad. If not, this is what we must do ourselves,” the head of state said.