Official: Azerbaijan estimates military aggression caused $150 billion in damages

Azerbaijan has estimated that military aggression and occupation inflicted $150 billion in damages, Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov said during the UN’s 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

Sharifov said the assessment was made by the Azerbaijani Government Commission and emphasised that more than 15 per cent of the damage stems from landmine contamination, Caliber.Az reports per local media. 

Following the end of the occupation in November 2020 and the restoration of territorial integrity, Azerbaijan launched large-scale reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories. Sharifov noted that $15 billion has already been allocated from the state budget for the implementation of the “Great Return” State Program, which aims to resettle displaced citizens back to their original towns and villages.

To address the landmine threat, Azerbaijan has designated mine safety as its 18th national Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), a move initiated by President Ilham Aliyev. Sharifov encouraged other countries facing similar challenges to adopt this approach.

Following two years of intensive demining and reconstruction efforts after the liberation of a significant part of its territories from Armenian occupation through the 44-day Second Karabakh War of 2020, in July 2022, Azerbaijan officially launched the Great Return program as a comprehensive. By 2026, the first phase targets the resettlement of 140,000 IDPs across 100 settlements, with a long-term goal of full restoration by 2040.

By Sabina Mammadli