STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)–The newly reshuffled government of Nagorno-Karabakh held its first meeting on Tuesday amid popular expectations that it will manage to achieve tangible economic improvement. Addressing the meeting–Nagorno-Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian called for "united and consolidated" efforts to tackle the problems facing the Armenian-populated region. He told the cabinet members to be responsive and engage in "frequent contacts" with the population.
Five ministers in the new cabinet are new figures with three other portfolios remaining vacant. As a result of structural changes–several ministries and departmen’s have been abolished. But RFE/RL’s Stepanakert correspondent reported that a new body–the customs department–was set up during the meeting. The ministers also finalized composition of a government commission on privatizing agricultural land.
