Thursday, 7 August 2014
Prime Minister: Our desire is to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
On August 6, during his working visit to Lori Marz, Hovik Abrahamyan answered questions of interest to media representatives.
At a news briefing, the Prime Minister shared his impressions of those visits paid to border regions, noting that starting from combat positions everyone is in fighting trim and ready to defend the country’s frontiers.
“The Government has always been thoughtful and will henceforth be ever more considerate of the problems faced by border villages, trying to find solutions, if possible. People in border communities should have employment, if they are not to leave their homes. We are currently preparing a bill to submit to the National Assembly in September, which provides that businessmen in 30 border communities should be exempt from all types of taxes,” Hovik Abrahamyan said.
Regarding the border tensions, the Prime Minister noted, “There have always been shootings; I associate the recent escalation with the two Presidents’ August 8-9 meeting with the RF President in Sochi. These incidents demonstrated once again that the Azerbaijani authorities need to realize that they cannot defy the armies of Artsakh and Armenia. The loss of each soldier is a great loss for all of us, and our desire is to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
Down to his working visit to Lori Marz, the Premier expressed satisfaction with the ongoing repairs at Haghpat community school and talked about the Akhtala ore mining and processing integrated plant: “Each mining company must operate within the bounds of the law, because the most important thing for us is our people’s health and the ecological problems. The plant is employing over 700 people, with the possibility of adding 200 more jobs. As the head of the government, I will be supportive of new programs and jobs.”
Concerning the wage arrears at the Vanadzor chemical plant, Hovik Abrahamyan said that the total debt is AMD 350 million per year, and a month’s salary will be paid before August 10. Should there be any re-commissioning and development projects, the government will help implement them.
Answering a question on the arrest of philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan, the Prime Minister said as follows, “Levon Hayrapetyan has always helped implement development projects in Artsakh; he used to stand by the people of Artsakh. We appreciate his philanthropy and will try our prerogatives to help him as a benefactor of our nation.”
