Ruben Vardanyan (politician)
Armenian-born Russian businessman, oligarch and politician (born 1968) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ruben Karleni Vardanyan (Armenian: Ռուբեն Կառլենի Վարդանյան, Russian: Рубен Карленович Варданян; born 25 May 1968) is a Russian-Armenian oligarch,[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] former head of Russian Security Council,[11][12] former adviser to Vladimir Putin,[13][14][15] and a politician who served as the State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), an unrecognized state in the South Caucasus, from 4 November 2022 until 23 February 2023.[16][17][18] Vardanyan continued to work in Artsakh following his dismissal from the post of State Minister.[19]
Ruben Vardanyan | |
---|---|
Ռուբեն Վարդանյան | |
4th State Minister of Artsakh | |
In office 4 November 2022 – 23 February 2023 | |
President | Arayik Harutyunyan |
Preceded by | Artak Beglaryan |
Succeeded by | Gurgen Nersisyan |
Personal details | |
Born | (1968-05-25) 25 May 1968 (age 55) Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
Nationality | Armenian, formerly Artsakhi |
Spouse | Veronika Zonabend |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Prior to his political career, Vardanyan was a businessman and philanthropist.[20] He is the former chief executive officer and shareholder of the Troika Dialog investment bank, which was the hearth of the Troika Laundromat.[21][22] On 27 September 2023, Vardanian's wife Veronika Zonabend told Russian media outlet Kommersant that she had "lost contact" with him following the Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh; on the same day, he was detained by the Azerbaijani State Border Service in the Lachin corridor while attempting to cross into Goris, Armenia.[23][24][25] On 28 September 2023, he was charged by Azerbaijani authorities with "financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border".[26][27]
In 2021, his net worth was estimated by Forbes at $1 billion.[28][22]