A consultation was held under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during which the problems requiring an urgent solution in the irrigation sector were discussed.

This was reported by the Information and Public Relations Department of the RA Government.

The Prime Minister first referred to the existing needs related to irrigation, the forecasts presented earlier and emphasized. “In general, the current situation of Lake Sevan forces us to record that we should stop treating Sevan as a toy or a water container. It is absolutely unacceptable, and the practice of treating Sevan as a water container, unfortunately, has turned into a state policy in Armenia for a long time and we are seeing its consequences today. I hope that the attendees came to today’s discussion with this mood and attitude.

We have to finally break this closed and unwanted chain.”

Then the responsible persons presented the necessary information regarding the filling level of the reservoirs, the amount of water needed to fully close the irrigation season, the possible measures to fill the breach, the necessary information related to the Mkhchyan and Ranchpar pumping stations, on which an interesting exchange of ideas took place, various recommendations were presented in the direction of solving the irrigation problems. Then the reduction of water losses from irrigation systems, the control of hydroelectric power plants and emerging environmental issues were addressed.

As a result of the discussion, the Prime Minister appointed a Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan and with the involvement of the representatives of the concerned departments, form a working group that will discuss the problem of providing the necessary irrigation water to the farms in the shortest possible time and will present relevant recommendations.

“It is necessary to study the situation and find solutions to the problem without releasing water from Lake Sevan. The problem should be solved maximally effectively and in a short time,” he stressed Nikol Pashinyan, while emphasizing the need to develop the drip irrigation system in the republic.