Transfer of power to Ruben Vardanyan begins in Karabakh

Baku / 04.10.22 / Turan: The leader of the Karabakh separatists Arayik Harutyunyan announced today that he offered the Russian businessman Ruben Vardanyan to take the post of "Minister of State" - that is, to become the second person in Karabakh.

Harutyunyan wrote about this on his Facebook page as adding that he was "ready to give him broad powers to make decisions and implement them."

Vardanyan himself announced that he would renounce Russian citizenship and move to Karabakh in September. He explained that he wanted to help his compatriots get out of a difficult situation after the Second Karabakh War.

Meanwhile, Armenian sources reported that a plan for the transfer of power is being prepared in Karabakh. So, Arayik Harutyunyan must leave Karabakh and move to Russia. Prior to that, he created a public council, which should actually replace the "Karabakh parliament" and take over its functions. The head of this council will also be Vardanan, who, after Harutyunyan's departure, will take his place.

According to some analysts, the appointment of Vardanyan (1968) is a project of Moscow to find a solution to the conflict in Karabakh. Billionaire Vardanyan is a confidant of the Kremlin and has been repeatedly accused of laundering the illegal proceeds of the Kremlin. For this reason, he was included in the US and EU sanctions list.

Note that Forbes estimated Vardanyan's fortune at $950 million. He owned the investment company "Troika Dialog", which he sold in 2011 to Russia's "Sberbank" for $1 billion. He also owned shares in Avtovaz (20.5%) and KamAZ (27.3%), which he later sold at a high price.

On March 4, 2019, journalists from the Corruption and Organized Crime Investigation Project (COCIP) published an investigation by "Laundromat Troika", in which they described the network of 76 offshore companies created by "Troika Dialog" through which about $4.6 billion passed.

In recent years, Vardanyan has continued to work as a private investor.

Before moving to Karabakh, he stated that he had transferred his business to a "family fund." Vardanyan's eldest son David is a participant in the April 2016 war in Karabakh. -02B-