April 26, at the initiative of the "Democracy" faction of the Artsakh Republic Parliament, in accordance with Article 113 of the "Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly" and the requirements of the National Assembly working order parliamentary hearings on "Telecommunication Problems" were convened.

MP David Melkumyan, who headed the hearing, presented the importance of the issue for the state and the public and noted that the faction is interested in constructive discussions to reveal the problems and find solutions. Chairman of the State Commission on Regulation of Public Services and Economic Competition Mikayel Virabyan, Armen Tovmasyan, Head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Economy and Industrial Infrastructure, Karen Grigoryan, Head of Communication, Telecommunication and Information Technologies Department at the Ministry of Economy and Industrial Infrastructure, General Director of "Karabakh Telecom" CJSC Karekin Odabashyan, Anna Arakelyan, Deputy Head of the State Commission on Regulation of Public Services and Economic Competition, lawyer David Hovhannisyan, Coordinator of the "ALO" initiative Mher Poghosyan have been invited to the hearings.

Speaking about the reason for organizing the hearing, the member of the "Democracy" faction Gegham Stepanyan underlined that the main reason was the widespread discontent among the population with the problems in the telecommunications sector. The MP noted that as a result of the research on the field came the following preliminary conclusions: The tariffs of "Karabakh Telecom" CJSC, the only telecommunication operator in the Republic of Artsakh, are inadequate to the population's income; the quality of services provided by the company does not correspond to the amount charged.

At the beginning of the discussion phase, Karekin Odabashyan, CEO of Karabakh Telecom refused to provide information in this format of hearings, proposing to organize a separate meeting with the MPs.

MPs Gagik Baghunts, Alyosha Gabrielyan, Gagik Petrosyan and Arpat Avanesyan asked questions and made recommendations. The stakeholders present at the hearings also presented their views.

Summing up the meeting, it was proposed to interrupt hearings and organize a meeting of MPs with "Karabakh Telecom" CJSC Director in the near future and then continue the discussion in the format of the hearing.

President of the National Assembly Ashot Ghoulyan, NA Vice-President Vahram Balayan, representatives of parliamentary factions and standing committees took part in the parliamentary hearings.