It said, in particular, that the families of civilians killed during the war will receive 5 million drams ($10,000) each. The government will also pay seriously wounded and disabled individuals between 1 million and 3 million drams in compensation.
The compensations were proposed by Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelian and approved by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s cabinet. They are understood to cover residents of not only Armenian border villages but also Karabakh towns and villages shelled by Azerbaijani forces.
According to Karabakh authorities, more than 40 civilian residents of the Armenian-populated territory were killed during the six-week hostilities. Several other civilian casualties were reported in villages located in Armenia.
The fighting also left at least 2,700 Armenian and Karabakh Armenian soldiers dead. Their families will receive monthly benefits from a state insurance fund set up in 2017 for military personnel. The fund also compensates soldiers wounded in action.
The government also decided to compensate the owners of an estimated 75 village houses in Armenia which Arakelian said were seriously damaged by Azerbaijani shelling. Government officials did not say how much will likely be spent for their reconstruction.
In a related development, the Armenian Ministry of Education announced impending tuition waivers for university students who participated in the war. It said the measure will also apply to those students whose parents fought in the army ranks.