The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic’s reserves are not so much that we can withstand; decisive steps are needed, disaster is expected. Presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan said this at a press conference Wednesday.

"Having been appointed prime minister since 2007, I was screaming and call out from morning to evening, 'We have an important security issue: food, energy and military,’'' he said. “We shall not split apart. If we break up, we will lose a lot; the ‘flood’ is still coming. If this [coronavirus] epidemic continues until August, Armenia, including Artsakh, will have a dire problem in terms of Armenia's balance of payments. Already today we have no transfers, no tourism. Fortunately, the external reserves have increased by about 550 million in 2019. It is an extreme situation now; we will have a food problem.