“From a human point of view, it is very inspiring when a wealthy and successful businessman leaves Moscow for a war zone.
Nagorno-Karabakh was such a zone when Ruben Vardyanan, known for his Troika Dialog company, moved there a few years ago. He did not just travel there but actually headed into Nagorno-Karabakh for a short time, acting as its state minister.
Publicly declaring his intention to go to Nagorno-Karabakh in September of last year, Ruben Vardanyan noted that he was doing it not for political reasons but with a humanitarian mission. “Residents of the republic have survived two wars and lost their relatives and friends in the fight for independence. They feel abandoned,” he emphasized, expressing gratitude to Russia for its presence in the region. Once Nagorno-Karabakh was liquidated and occupied by Azerbaijani troops, he was arrested.
“Will the man who called himself the prime minister of Karabakh dare to threaten us today?” the president of Azerbaijan rhetorically asked, adding that Vardanyan and other detained NKR leaders were served tea in a remand prison.
When Ruben Vardanyan was allowed to call home from the Azerbaijani prison, he only said that his condition was normal. The actual situation is unknown at the moment — Azerbaijan has no institutions similar to Russian public oversight committees (which can check the detention conditions of any prisoner). Neither the Red Cross nor any other international organizations have inspected the prison conditions yet.
Unfortunately, Ruben Vardanyan is not formally associated with Russia anymore. In last year’s interview to Forbes magazine, he stated that he had obtained an Armenian passport and renounced Russian citizenship, “I want to have complete freedom of action, including from a moral standpoint. After all, Artsakh is a territory that still has no full-fledged definite status, and I don’t want to set Russia up in this conflict.”
His motivation (he believes that “After the 2020 war, we, Armenians of the world, must be together with Artsakh”) was absolutely clear. It is only logical that protecting the rights of Armenian citizens (including Ruben Vardanyan) must be among the Armenian authorities’ top priorities. The release of people who had no part in military operations but worked in the Nagorno-Karabakh government, can and should be included in the terms of peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This endeavor could be supported by the influential Armenian diaspora in many countries, which for years has been talking about Nagorno-Karabakh as a symbol for the entire Armenian people. Probably, the Armenian diaspora in Russia could also be more active in defending one of its prominent representatives. We should not forget that thousands of people, active members of Russian civil society, have passed through Vardanyan’s projects — the Skolkovo business school, Aurora social projects and others. Their voices could facilitate the philanthropist’s release despite his renunciation of Russian citizenship.”
