What Material Losses Do We Have in Artsakh: Tadevos Avetisyan

The total material losses are estimated to be around 50 billion USD. This was stated by Tadevos Avetisyan, a member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and a deputy in the Armenian National Assembly’s 'Armenia' faction.

“Let me present some numerical facts. Until the 44-day war in 2020, the economy of the Republic of Artsakh had recorded double-digit growth on average for 20 years. In 2019, the GDP stood at around 343 billion drams, equivalent to over 900 million USD at current exchange rates, and the state budget was approximately 145 billion drams, which is more than 380 million USD at current exchange rates. There were about 300 mining sites in Artsakh, of which 83 were metallic, 197 non-metallic, and 5 were fuel mines. There were 36 hydroelectric power stations operating.

Approximately 16,000 businesses were operating, 11,600 of which were individual entrepreneurs. As of January 1, 2020, the permanent population counted 149,000 people. About 60,000 people were employed in various sectors of the economy, of which about 45,000 were salaried workers. There were 92 hotels in Artsakh. In 2019, more than 42,000 international tourists visited Artsakh.

Agricultural land amounted to 580,000 hectares. In particular, the area planted with cereal crops was 80,000 hectares, yielding about 140,000 tons of produce annually. Artsakh was self-sufficient in terms of cereal crops, exporting about 25% of the harvest to Armenia. Technical crops occupied 5,300 hectares, producing about 8,000 tons annually. Fruit orchards covered 4,400 hectares, with an annual harvest of 8,600 tons. The number of cattle was about 50,000 head.

There were approximately 5,300 units of agricultural machinery in the region, including about 1,250 tractors and 1,500 trucks. Artsakh had 51 preschool institutions attended by around 4,000 children, 2,606 primary schools with about 24,000 students, 20 music and arts schools with 7,000 students, and 10 libraries with a collection of 400,000 books,” he wrote.