Upon hearing that Armenian soldiers fighting in Artsakh need warm clothes, Yerevan accountant Arsen Davtyan has turned his two-room apartment into a mini factory sewing winter caps for them.

"The guys must know that the people are backing them,” Davtyan tells Hetq.

Many companies and organizations are retooling themselves to produce supplies for use in Artsakh.

 The hats are made by Arsen's mother, aunt and uncle, and are then sent to a workshop for sewing. All three of his relatives are engaged in the production of local clothes.

"My friend called and asked, ‘You people are merchants. Can you tell me where we can get a large quantity of hats?' I decided to buy and sew the raw materials myself because there are Turkish-made hats on the market at almost three times the price," Davtyan tells Hetq

The first batch was produced on Sunday in a few hours. On that day, the family took 1,200 hats and sent them to the sewers who did the first batch for free.

Individuals leaving Yerevan for the Artsakh front took the hats with them.

Today, a second batch of some 6,500 hats are being sewn.

Union of the Mantashov Businessmen members financially assisted in the purchase of raw material and production process.

"Every time we learn a lesson from history, we do not take any appropriate steps to develop the economy, to pay attention to business. Now I have high hopes that this was the last tough lesson. After all this, every small enterprise, large producer must be behind us and develop our economy," Davtyan says.

Video by Ani Sargsyan