Official: Reinvigorated Lachin is reminiscent of Swiss towns in the Alps

Claims that "everything is expensive in Lachin" and "the cost of living here is high" are absurd, Elnur Abdullayev, deputy director of Laçın Abadlıq OJSC, said in a conversation with members of the Union of Parliamentary Journalists.

According to Report correspondent in Lachin, Abdullayev said that construction and improvement work in Lachin started in September last year.

"The works started in October 2022 and were completed within eight months. Despite the severe winter cold, they did not stop and were carried out intensively. On May 28, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Lachin and handed house keys to 20 families. Now almost every week Lachin residents return here. 346 families (1326 people) have already moved to Lachin. 121 families (475 people) have returned to Zabukh village. That is, the total number of returnees is 467 families (1,801 people)," Abdullayev said.

He noted that before the occupation, there were 2,020 private, 29 residential buildings in addition to administrative buildings in Lachin.

"During the occupation, 1,500 of the private houses were destroyed. After the liberation, an inventory was made, which showed the presence of about 500 private houses and administrative buildings. With them, the reconstruction of the housing stock and public buildings began. It was necessary to find out to whom they belonged. All the necessary main communications were laid. There are no problems with electricity, natural gas and water supply in the city. In addition, construction is ongoing in Lachin on 712 facilities: 75 public buildings, 628 private houses, and 9 apartment blocks with 144 flats. We were tasked with restoring the city to its original form, so we have tried to preserve its architectural style as much as possible," Abdullayev said.

Lachin's central street will be similar to "Torgovaya" in Baku

Abdullayev emphasised that the Flag Square in Lachin is conceived in a completely different way.

"An open-air museum of occupation is being built on the territory where there are 22 houses and which we look at from Flag Square. The aim is to show Armenian vandalism. We have conceived the main street as a tourist zone. Traffic will be prohibited here, i.e. it is something like Torgovaya in Baku," he said.

"Several internet providers are already operating in the neighbourhood. There are no problems with internet and communication here," Abdullayev added.

He noted that the issue of employment is a priority.

"We have built an Agro-Industrial Park with an area of 52 hectares on the territory of Zeirdi village near the city. It is expected that 46 enterprises for 1169 jobs will work there. We have already provided employment for 430 residents of Lachin.

Seven enterprises are already in operation. There are shoe production, textile production, essential oils, livestock farms, and greenhouse farms. We will create a Lachin brand, but so far greenhouse production is provided only for district residents," Abdullayev said.

He added that construction works in the city are carried out according to its master plan.

"The city will have a number of multi-storey buildings. A total of 3,838 families (13,122 people) will live there. We are trying to do everything to create conditions for returning to their native lands," Abdullayev said, noting that Lachin already resembles Swiss towns in the Alps.