“However, due to weak pressure, gas supply in the Republic will be restored with certain restrictions,” read a statement released by them.
It said that only residents of Stepanakert, pressurized gas stations across Karabakh as well as “some strategic facilities” will receive “limited” amounts of gas for the time being.
Karabakh imports gas from Armenia through a pipeline passing through Azerbaijani-controlled territory. Azerbaijan cut off those supplies on Wednesday, aggravating a humanitarian crisis in Karabakh caused Baku’s more than month-long blockade of the sole road connecting the Armenian-populated region to Armenia.
Armenian electricity supplies to Karabakh were similarly disrupted on January 10, leading the authorities to impose rolling power cuts. The subsequent disruption in gas supplies increased the load on the local energy network as many residents of Stepanakert and other Karabakh towns were left to use only electricity for heating their homes.
Tigran Gabrielian, the deputy director of Karabakh’s power grid operator, on Friday again urged the population to cut back on electricity consumption.
“I do understand that there are problems with heating and so on, but there may be accidents in the network that would leave not only them but also their neighbors without electricity,” he said.
The authorities suspended on Thursday classes in Karabakh schools and colleges, saying they cannot be heated in the absence of gas and electricity. It was not immediately clear whether the schools will be reopened following the partial restoration of the gas supplies.
Also on Friday, the Karabakh government began rationing some of the basic foodstuffs that have been in short supply since Azerbaijani government-backed protesters blocked the Lachin corridor on December 12. Every Karabakh resident should now be able to buy one liter of sunflower oil and one kilogram of rice, macaroni, buckwheat and sugar a month with coupons issued by the government earlier this week.