Coordinating Headquarters discuss issues in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The Coordinating Headquarters for addressing issues in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands in a centralized manner held a regular meeting, Azernews reports.

The meeting was chaired by Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration Chief Samir Nuriyev.

During the meeting, Nuriyev outlined the tasks stemming from the president’s speech at a meeting on the results of the six months of 2022. In this regard, he stressed the importance of further improving the headquarters’ activities on the basis of planning, efficiency, and transparency.

The participants of the meeting also discussed issues arisen during the visit of members of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Coordination Headquarters to Sugovushan and Aghdam on July 5 this year.

Moreover, touching upon the resettlement of 41 families as part of the first stage of Aghali residents’ return, Nuriyev briefed on the news tasks regarding the start of the Great Return process.

Additionally, they discussed issues related to the headquarters’ current activities, including the preparation of urban planning documentation, provision of settlements with engineering, communication, and social infrastructure, as well as the organization of the return and sustainable resettlement of the population.

The Coordination Headquarters was established on November 24, 2020, in line with the presidential decree to address the issues in Azerbaijan's liberated territories in a centralized manner.

Currently, work is underway to restore Azerbaijan's liberated lands. Azerbaijan will rebuild its recently liberated areas in four stages. The initial stage includes the solution of the issues of governance and security, and infrastructure, while the subsequent stages include the solution of the issues of social services activities, reconstruction, and development of the economy.

In 2021, Azerbaijan allocated $1.5 billion for the reconstruction of liberated territories. These funds were used primarily to restore infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, communications, roads, education, health, and so on) as well as cultural and historical monuments.

For 2022, the state budget provides for the allocation of AZN2.2 billion ($1.3bn) for the reconstruction of Azerbaijan's liberated territories. Earlier, according to the amendment to the abovementioned law, an additional AZN470 million ($276.4m) is proposed for the reconstruction of liberated territories this year.