Nagorno-Karabakh residents tell about the consequences of gas cuts

The authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh have explained the cut off of gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh by a failure of the gas pipeline in Armenia. Residents of Stepanakert have said about the significantly increased costs of heating their apartments and houses with electricity during gas cuts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 23, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accused Azerbaijan of "humanitarian terrorism" because of the cessation of gas supply. It was resumed on March 28, but residents of Stepanakert expressed fear that this was temporary, and that the Azerbaijani party would use the gas pipeline passing through its territory from Armenia for their own aims. On April 2, at noon, the gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh was stopped again.

The republic's authorities have issued a statement by the "Gazprom-Armenia" stating that the gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh was stopped due to problems with the gas pipeline in Armenia.

Armen Sarumyan, a pensioner, has noted that he will have to pay twice against an ordinary winter month, when the apartment was heated by gas, for the electricity consumed in March.

Mr Sarumyan said that he lives in a private house, and next winter, if there are problems with the gas supply, he will build a wood-burning stove in the house. "The only thing that depressed me was that I had to refuel the car with gasoline. It turned out to be expensive," the man has noted.

Margarita Petrosyan, a mother of three young children, said it was a bit cold when there was no gas, but the children were not cold. "I cooked on an electric stove, and there were no problems with using the electric heater," said the young mother, adding she is worried that due to a gas cut, schools may close again.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 2, 2022 at 07:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.