Azerbaijani Blockade Causes $390 Million Damage to Artsakh Economy

According to a report by the Artsakh government, on the 205th day of the blockade, statistical data reveals that due to the cessation of planned surgeries in all medical facilities, around 1,520 citizens have been deprived of the opportunity to resolve their health issues through surgery, an increase of about 30 cases over the last four days.

To date, 579 patients have been transferred from Artsakh to Armenia with the mediation and escort of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and another 70 have been moved under the escort of Russian peacekeepers for appropriate medical treatment. Due to additional obstacles raised by Azerbaijani authorities against the ICRC's operations, transfers were almost completely suspended for nearly a month and have now been fully interrupted for 10 consecutive days.

The ICRC's activities along the Lachin corridor resumed on June 25. As a result of the blockade, around 3,900 individuals, including 550 children, have been unable to return to their homes, although some have returned with the support of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers.

No citizens have freely traveled along the Stepanakert-Goris highway (Lachin corridor), with incidents of bilateral movement decreasing by about 204 times—only 2,466 entries and exits were recorded instead of the anticipated 502,250 during the 205-day period. Furthermore, only 44 cases of citizen exits and entries have been registered in the last four days, facilitated solely by the Red Cross.

No vehicles belonging to Artsakh citizens have passed through the blocked road, and the overall traffic of vehicles has been nearly 65 times lower than what it would have been without the blockade. During the 205-day period, there have been only 2,911 vehicle entries and exits instead of the expected 188,600, and again, this was only with the assistance of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers. In the last four days, there have been only 11 vehicle entries and exits, solely via the Red Cross.

Around 14 times less vital goods have been imported solely through the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers than would normally occur without the blockade—approximately 5,700 tons instead of the expected 82,000 tons during the 205 days. Of this amount, only 12 tons have arrived in the last four days, exclusively medication brought in by the Red Cross.

During the blockade, Azerbaijan has fully or partially interrupted the gas supply from Armenia to Artsakh for a cumulative total of 139 days, while electricity supply has been completely disrupted for 176 consecutive days. This has led to daily rolling blackouts, emergency outages, and the closure or reduction of many enterprises.

860 business entities (20.1% of the total) have suspended their operations due to the impossibility of working under blockade conditions, while the remaining businesses operate only partially or with state support. Due to the blockade and disruption of vital infrastructure since its commencement, it is estimated that around 11,000 people have effectively lost their jobs and sources of income (including cases of temporary job preservation with state support), which constitutes more than 50% of workers in the private sector.

Construction on 32.6 kilometers of road, dozens of kilometers of water pipeline, irrigation systems for thousands of hectares, 3,717 residential buildings, and over 40 social and production infrastructure projects has been halted. Throughout the blockade, approximately $390 million in damages has been inflicted on the economy of the Republic of Artsakh, leading to a failure to meet the projected annual GDP indicator of $903 million by nearly 43%.