Bako Sahakyan: Until 2020 Artsakh will become an energy exporting country

ArmInfo. The average growth rate of the Artsakh Republic's GDP for the past 10 years was 9.8%. This was discussed at an expanded meeting on the main provisions of the program of the President of the Republic of Artsakh for 2017-2020 said the President of the country Bako Sahakyan. According to him, this indicator is quite high, given the global financial and economic crisis during the reporting period.

The President recalled that on July 19, in his speech from the rostrum of the National Assembly, he stressed that in the future it is envisaged to ensure an average annual growth of 8-10%, already in 2020 reaching 310 billion AMD. According to the head of the republic, even if this approach seems ambitious, it is quite realistic.

As Bako Sahakyan pointed out, one of the strategic directions of the Artsakh Republic's development is the improvement of the demographic situation. "Over the past few years, a positive trend has been observed in this direction," he said, stressing that this fact is satisfactory, though insufficient. To improve the demographic picture of the country, the accent, as the president explained, will be made on stimulating the birth rate. In parallel, the state will work towards improving the policy of state action on mortgage lending to families.

During the 2017-2020 period, the development of industry is planned. As the president noted, the most dynamically developing is the mining sector of the economy. Preservation of high rates of development in this sphere is a priority task, he said. The implementation of extensive hydropower programs is envisaged, which has huge potential to ensure stable incomes in the long term. By 2020, 10 new HPPs are planned to be built, with the result that Artsakh will become an electricity exporting country: the volume of electricity produced will be 550 million kW/h, and until 2023 the figure will reach 750 million kW/h. As Bako Sahakyan assured, developing the above directions, the state will do its utmost not to harm the environment.

During the reporting period, the Republic will carry out large-scale work to ensure the consistent development of the agro-sphere. It is planned to increase the volume of gross agricultural products by 10%.  "The agricultural production of Artsakh should be competitive, both on the domestic and foreign markets, becoming a special brand in the world agricultural market, symbolizing high quality, environmental friendliness, health and affordable prices," the president said.

Tourism will also be in the focus of attention of the Artsakh authorities. It is assumed that the stimulation of tourism will entail the development of various infrastructures and increase the recognition of the republic.

Earlier, Adviser to the President of Artsakh, Tigran Abrahamyan, wrote on his Facebook page that the GDP of the Artsakh Republic has quadrupled over the past 10 years. "If the GDP of Artsakh in 2007 was 70.8 billion AMD, in 2016 it was 229.6 billion AMD, then by the results of 2017 the task was set to reach the figure of 270 billion AMD, within 10 years, ensuring a 4-fold increase in nominal GDP of the country," the adviser to the president of Artsakh says. According to him, the state budget revenues in 2007 amounted to 30 billion, in 2017 it is expected to grow to 100 billion AMD.

The consolidated budget of the Republic of Artsakh for the first half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016 increased by 19.9%. As Tigran Abrahamyan reported earlier on his Facebook page, in January-June of 2017 the revenues of the consolidated budget of the republic increased by 19.9% to 16.1 billion AMD.  According to the National Statistical Service of the Artsakh Republic, in June 2017, the economic activity index in comparison with June 2016 was 113.9%, and in the period January-June of 2017 in comparison with the same period of 2016 - 115.0%. In January-June 2017, the Artsakh GDP was 102.2 billion AMD, and in the same period in 2016 - 87.7 billion AMD. GDP per capita in January-June 2017 at current prices amounted to 699.8 thousand AMD, 1444.2 USD or 1333.3 EUR. 6 percentage points of the recorded GDP growth of 14.9% was provided by the mining sector and the operation of open fields, financial and insurance activities accounted for 2.6 percentage points, construction was 2.4 percentage points, electricity, gas, steam and air of good quality.