Artsakh Deputy Prime Minister Artour Aghabegyan says his government is taking a fresh and more realistic approach to the issue of resettlement of the country.

For one thing, population and other demographic statistics are being compiled for Artsakh communities and resources will be targeted to those with at least 200 inhabitants.

Aghabegyan says the government wants to increase the population of some Kashatagh, Hadrout and Shahoumyan communities of these to 1,000 by 2017 and will spur such growth by ensuring that the target communities will be supplied with water.

To finance such projects, the government says it will launch a lottery, in which 40% of the proceeds will go to funding and 40% will go to paying lottery winners.

But the winnings will not be in the form of cash but rather lucky winners will be awarded local weaved rugs and apartments.

Lottery tickets will go on sale to the public as of May 9, 2014 and the winners will be decided on December 28.

Some 300,000 tickets have already been put into circulation and 220,000 have been sold; mostly to government agencies and employees of large businesses.

The plan is to sell one million tickets next year.

Aghabegyan says the 2,000 lottery tickets will offer buyers a way to directly participate in the development of Artsakh.

He says that short-term lottery games will also be launched specifically to finance local resettlement projects.

Aghabegyan estimates that in this way a few million dollars can be allocated to resettlement.