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Energy Ministry talks damage of energy infrastructure in territories occupied by Armenia

Oil&Gas Materials 2 November 2020 17:43 (UTC +04:00)
Energy Ministry talks damage of energy infrastructure in territories occupied by Armenia

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.2

By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:

The energy infrastructure of the Nagorno-Karabakh region was destroyed as a result of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by the Armenian Armed Forces, Trend reports on Nov.2 with reference to the Energy Ministry.

According to the ministry, one of the numerous lies of Armenia is that in Soviet times, Azerbaijan, allegedly pursuing a discriminatory policy, didn’t pay due attention to the development of the region.

"In fact, Azerbaijan paid special attention to the economic development of Nagorno Karabakh, in which the industrial sector played an important role,” the ministry said. “In terms of the composition and level of development of the mining industry, agricultural production, during the Soviet period Karabakh was one of the most advanced economic regions in Azerbaijan, an extensive energy infrastructure corresponding to the requirements of that time.”

As the ministry noted, after the occupation of Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding districts of Azerbaijan by Armenia, this infrastructure was mainly looted or destroyed.

"Within 10 regional power grids in Shusha, Khojaly, Khojavend, Lachin, Gubadli, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Fuzuli, Kalbajar, and Aghdam there were 20 substations with a total capacity of 858.6 megawatts,” noted the ministry. “At those areas, there were 3 high-voltage power lines with a capacity of 330 kV and a length of 81 km, a capacity of 110 kV with a length of 690 km and a capacity of 35 kV with a length of 615 km, as well as a power transmission line with a capacity of 10 kV with a length of 6,190 km and 0.4 kV with a length of 8,860 km, as well as 2,435 transformers with a total capacity of 245.7 megawatts.”

According to the data, at the same time, 2,000 km of gas lines and 34 gas installations were put into operation.

"After the complete liberation of our occupied lands, a more exact assessment of the destroyed and looted infrastructure will be carried out," concluded the ministry.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

Despite the fact that so far the parties have reached an agreement on a humanitarian ceasefire three times, Armenia continues to violate this agreement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Fidan_Babaeva

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