Thursday, October 1 2015 11:36

Bosnian rapporteur on the issue of Sarsang Reservoir Milica Markovic and a member of the Armenian delegation Vahan Babayan have burst into heated arguments during discussion of the draft report on the Sarsang reservoir at the PACE Committee for Social Affairs.  Markovic, in particular, blamed Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh for creating obstacles to her visit to Armenia and NKR for preparation of the report. She warned to prepare the report without visiting the countries, if she gets no opportunity to do it by October 31.

 

In response, the Armenian parliamentarian Vahan Babanyan said Armenia did not refuse to receive the rapporteur. "We just said that we will be able to organize the visit in November 2015," he said adding that PACE is not the very platform where one can speak with ultimatums. He said that Markovic has not visited the Sarsang reservoir just because of her unwillingness to apply for permission to the NKR authorities.  The Armenian delegation has repeatedly explained her that it is a necessity, while Markovic refuses to apply to the NKR as it is an unrecognized country, Babayan told ArmInfo.

 

During the discussions at PACE, Babayan said that Markovic cannot prepare an impartial report without visiting the area. "It will be a one-sided and politicized document," he said.  He informed his European colleagues that the reporter creates artificial obstacles to her visit to Armenia and NKR and politicizes that humanitarian issue.

 

Sarsang reservoir was built on Tartar river in 1976. The area of the reservoir is 14.2 km2 (5.5 sq mi). The overall volume of the reservoir is 575 million m The height of the dam at the reservoir is 125 m (410 ft).  The reservoir has the tallest dam out of all dams in Artsakh. Since opening, the reservoir has provided irrigation water for 100,000 ha (1,000,000 km) of agricultural lands in Tartar.  Sarsang Hydro Power Plant with capacity of 50 megawatt is based on the reservoir and operated by Artsakh HEK OJSC. It is the main source of electric  energy for Nagorno- Karabakh Republic (40-60%).  With its beautiful  surrounding nature, Sarsang reservoir is expected to be one of the major tourism centers of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the long run.