STEPANAKERT. - Despite the complicated military and political situation, the Karabakh Government managed to finalize year 2016 with the planned economic growth.

Prime Minister of Karabakh Arayik Haroutyunyan told the aforementioned at the meeting with reporters on Tuesday.

In his words, all the social programs have been implemented, the executive ending the fiscal year without unfulfilled commitments. Another 8-10 percent economic growth is expected in the coming year, Haroutyunyan said.

Referring to the negotiation process round the Karabakh conflict, the PM noted that the ongoing process supported by the mediators can be qualified not as negotiations but meetings. “Of course, meetings are important: thanks to them there is no large-scale war in the region. As to the options of the final settlement of the issue, the position of the Armenian side is precise in that respect: any proposed option should be approved by the people,” he noted. 

Touching on the restoration of Talish village, the PM didn’t consider appropriate the concern that a significant security issue may arise in terms of the return of the population. 

“Firstly, the engineering works and technical replenishment at the frontline allow to confidently say that any encroachment by the adversary will quickly be noticed and prevented by our army. Consequently, the significant recent reduction of border incidents is visible to everyone. Secondly, in case of a possible war, all the settlements will face the security issue and in this respect it is not correct to single out any specific settlement. It is a different issue that the Government will attach special attention to the border settlements, providing additional significant social guarantees to their residents” the Premier stressed.

Nevertheless, Haroutyounyan stressed that year 2016 was one of achievements. “2016 will be considered a year of important achievements in the life of Artsakh. We will still have an opportunity to assess April: it was indeed our second victory, since we managed to prove to the adversary that it has no right and possibility to speak with us by the force of arms. Moreover, we proved to the international community that the Armenians stand united and in case of danger can become one feast in a few hours. We managed to ensure economic growth and sufficient rates of natural demographic growth. We managed to prove to those suspicious that Artsakh’s fate is already guaranteed from political, economic and military standpoints, recording another year of development. This was indeed a year of development, a year of victory and a year of success,” Arayik Haroutyunyan concluded.