President tours south-western region (UPDATE)
By Nigar Orujova
President Ilham Aliyev visited Fizuli region situated in the south-west of Azerbaijan and partly under Armenian occupation where he opened a number of facilities last Saturday.
The president started the visit by laying flowers at the statue of late national leader, former President Heydar Aliyev in the Horadiz city.
Aliyev attended the opening of the Fizuli hydroelectric power plant.
The power plant was built on the main Mil canal and covered an area of 14 hectares. The combined capacity of the station is 25.2 megawatts. The facility will be connected to the national power grid through a 110-KV substation Harami in the Fizuli region.
The plant will generate about 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and play an important part in the energy security and sustainability of Aran region.
President Aliyev expressed his satisfaction with the work done at the region.
The president said the commissioning of the Fizuli power plant is very significant. The power station is the biggest hydroelectric plant in Azerbaijan and was built in previously occupied territory.
"Armenian armed forces occupied the Fizuli region, however, Azerbaijani army under the leadership of great leader Heydar Aliyev freed a part of the region from occupation. Considerable reconstruction work is already being carried out in these territories, homes are being constructed, buildings restored and industrial enterprises set up," Aliyev said.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. The two countries fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory. Peace talks brokered by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
"There is no problem with electric power in Azerbaijan today. The built [power] stations and stations under construction will help us to multiply the successes achieved in this area," the president said.
Aliyev also visited a newly reconstructed passenger station in the Horadiz Railway Station.
Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov informed President Aliyev that the building was overhauled over three months as part of the work on the development of the domestic railway infrastructure. All the necessary conditions have been created for passengers. The territory surrounding the railway station was landscaped and planted with ornamental trees.
Afterwards, the president opened a newly built two-storey building of the regional branch of the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party in Horadiz.
The president was told that all the conditions have been created for the productive activity of the YAP branch. Its headquarters has an up-to-date 60-seat conference hall. The party's Fizuli branch has more than 5,500 members, including 2,300 women and 1,500 young people.
While in Horadiz Aliyev also attended the opening of the Heydar Aliyev Park with a total area of 3.5 hectares. A monument to Heydar Aliyev was erected there. A national flag with a flagpole of 50 meters was installed in the park, which also has a fountain, a cafe, an advanced lighting system, ornamental trees and greenery, etc.
The president opened the Heydar Aliyev Center, the Youth Center, a municipal culture center, a chess school and Secondary School No. 3 in Horadiz.
Aliyev viewed the buildings and was familiarized with the constructions and conditions provided there.
The president attended the opening of the Fizuli cold-storage warehouse built in the village of Ahmadbayli of Fizuli region in accordance with high standards.
The warehouse worth 4.5 million manats (over $5.7 million) with the total capacity of 5,000 tons operates ventilation and humidification systems and air compressors delivered from Germany, Italy and Finland, and has a fully equipped sorting and packing workshop to store mainly vegetables from Fizuli and surrounding regions.
The complex commissioning will create about 1,600 jobs and further improve the living standards of local residents, including IDPs displaced from their homes during the 1990s war with Armenia, and help increase the production of vegetables.
President Aliyev was also informed about the soft loans granted to the entrepreneurs of the Upper Karabakh Economic Region by the National Fund on Entrepreneurship Support (NFEP).
NFEP Executive Director Shirzad Abdullayev said that 627 business entities of the Upper Karabakh Economic Region were provided with preferential loans worth 16.2 million manats (over $20.6 million), including 10.8 million manats to finance five investment projects based on new technologies. "These projects will create about 1,600 new jobs," he added.