STEPANAKERT (Azatutyun) — Four days after the latest disruption in supplies of natural gas from Armenia, authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh shut down on Tuesday, January 24, all compressed gas stations selling fuel used by most local cars.
In a statement, the authorities said the small volumes of gas remaining in Karabakh will now be supplied only to hospitals and other critical facilities using it for heating purposes.
Classes in Karabakh’s schools and colleges were suspended on January 19 for the same reason.
“Stepanakert is adapted to gas heaters,” Gayane Arustamyan, a 60-year-old resident of the Karabakh capital, said. “Homes, offices, schools and hospitals all depend on gas, and this [disruption] made people’s lives much harder.”
Azerbaijan halted the flow of gas to Karabakh from a pipeline passing through Azerbaijani-controlled territory at the weekend for the fourth time since Azerbaijani government-backed protesters blocked the Lachin corridor on December 12.
Armenia’s electricity supplies to Karabakh were similarly blocked by Baku on January 10, leading to daily power cuts in the Armenian-populated territory. The energy crisis compounded shortages of food, medicine and other essential items endured by local residents.
