STEPANAKERT. – Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of State and Head of the Operational Headquarters, Ruben Vardanyan, chaired a regular meeting of the Operational Headquarters today, the Artsakh government informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Vardanyan, presenting the current situation in Artsakh, noted that the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of Artsakh brings new challenges.

"The blockade changes the economy and the state's priorities. The state is already forced to respond to the problems arising in the economic and social spheres as a result of the blockade, by reviewing its work, approaches, directions," said Vardanyan.

At the same time, the blockade and the resulting crisis, according to him, force Artsakh to use available resources more rationally, to identify all problems, including those related to the shadow economy, and to introduce more effective management models.

It was also noted that a working group was set by order of the Minister of State to develop measures aimed at alleviating the economic and social consequences of the blockade.

During the meeting, the process of introducing the coupon system was reported, it was informed that the respective organizational and technical work is being carried out according to the established timeframe. In order to smoothly implement this system, relevant explanatory and training activities will be carried out for both suppliers and owners of trading points. The sale of several primary groups of products with coupons will be carried out throughout Artsakh. The minister of state emphasized the implementation of awareness activities among the population along with the implementation of the aforesaid system. He also considered it necessary to create appropriate information bases.

The situation related to Artsakh’s energy supply, which remains tense, was presented, too. The energy supply from Armenia to Artsakh is interrupted as before because the Azerbaijani side does not allow specialists to visit the territory under their control to understand the reasons for the interruption. In order to ensure the minimum energy needs of the population of Artsakh as long as possible, a four-hour power outage—instead of the current two hours—will be implemented in Artsakh starting Tuesday.

The situation in the markets of food products, medicine, and diesel fuel of Artsakh was reported on as well.

In addition, it was noted that as a result of the measures taken, it was possible to reduce the tension in terms of cash circulation in Artsakh.