Why Were Millions Spent If There Was to Be a Transfer of 5+2 Regions to Azerbaijan? - Marukyan

The leader of the Bright Armenia party, Edmon Marukyan, made a post on his Facebook page:

“Yesterday, the statements made by the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, carried the common thread that throughout the negotiations, it was presumed that all possible solutions included the transfer of 5+2 regions to Azerbaijan. If that was the case, then why were millions of dollars spent on Kovsakan (Zangelan), the surrounding villages, and Sanasari (Kubatly)? A new city was being constructed on the Araks River (Araksavan), and enormous expenses were incurred for Meghri (Jabrayil), and so on. It turns out that the taxes of our citizens and funds coming from the diaspora were being spent in an area that was intended to be transferred to Azerbaijan. In other words, were we so wealthy that we were building towns and villages for them? Furthermore, several hundred million dollars' worth of credit portfolios were issued for business activities in the Kashatagh (Lachin) and Karvachar (Kelbajar) regions (mainly for hydropower plants). Was there any point in taking out huge loans from banks with state guarantees if they were supposed to be transferred to Azerbaijan anyway? What was the purpose of all these expenses when negotiations were underway regarding the handover of the 5+2 regions?”