Media: Before becoming active in politics Vardanyan built vast fortune in Russia

Before becoming active in politics and undertaking philanthropic endeavors in Armenia, “state minister” of the Armenian separatists in Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan built a vast fortune in Russia, reads an article in the French newsletter “Intelligence online,” Report informs.

“In the early 1990s, he opened the now folded Russian investment bank Troika Dialog, which he ran until it was sold and absorbed into SberBank. Leaked banking records in 2019 revealed a scheme set up by Troika Dialog between 2006 and 2013, dubbed the Troika Laundromat, by which the bank had channeled money out of Russia via tax havens and Lithuania,” reads the article.

The controversial figure of Armenian businessman Ruben Vardanyan, who is awaiting trial in Azerbaijan, appears to be the catalyst for a wave of separate suspected influence campaigns stemming from Russia, Azerbaijan, the United States and France, according to the author.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s cabinet is trying to keep track of the opposition’s movements as protestors continue to call for Pashinyan’s resignation in demonstrations that on June 12 alone resulted in dozens of injuries, reads the article.

“Intelligence Online understands that Pashinyan’s security detail is particularly concerned with the role businessman Ruben Vardanyan could play in unifying the Armenian diaspora. They are especially concerned about his impact in the United States and France, where advocates for the opposition are the most vocal,” the article noted.

Vardanyan, who was detained on September 27 at the Lachin border checkpoint, was charged under articles 214-1 (financing terrorism), 279.3 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as participation in their activities) and 318.1 (crossing guarded state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan without established documents or outside the state border checkpoint), a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen against him.