Herostratic fame of Ruben Vardanyan Exposing Armenian oligarch's dirty deeds

A controversial Russian businessman of Armenian origin Ruben Vardanyan has bested Herostratus, accused of seeking notoriety as an arsonist and burning down the second Temple of Artemis. However, if Herostratus became notorious for destroying only the Temple of Artemis, then Vardanyan was involved in many modern scandals, such as the “Magnitsky case”, “Cellist Roldugin’s money”, fraud with fuel at Sheremetyevo International Airport, etc.

Vardanyan cannot wean himself from his past criminal life and patronises illegal mining at the Qizilbulag gold and Demirli copper-molybdenum deposits on the Azerbaijani territory, without Baku’s permission and causing damage to the environment. Vardanyan should read the UN Environment Programme's book "Kick the Habit: A Guide to Climate Neutrality".

How did Vardanyan get rich and become accused of money laundering?

Troika Dialog, a private investment bank founded by Vardanyan, was investigated by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in Russia. In particular, OCCRP and its partners uncovered a multi-billion dollar money laundering network in March 2019 that used this bank. Troika Dialog has created an entire ecosystem of at least 76 interconnected offshore firms. The strategy also included fraud with the personal data of Armenian workers in Russia and transferring money from those accounts.

OCCRP journalists found these people, and it turned out that they live in very difficult conditions and have no idea how much money goes through “their” accounts. The network received a total of $4.6 billion from 2006 through 2013, transferred $4.8 billion, and conducted internal transactions worth $8.8 billion. The businesses have been involved in numerous contracts to transport a wide range of goods, including food and auto parts. The journalists who conducted the investigation state that these were fraudulent contracts and that despite the exchange of money, nothing was delivered. Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, used the same mechanism to transfer money throughout the Middle East.

The criminal system was more than just money laundering. It was also a hidden investment tool, a bribe fund, a tax avoidance scheme, etc. Vardanyan's name has also been mentioned in previous scandals, such as fuel at Sheremetyevo and reinsurance fraud, Putin's friend cellist Roldugin’s money, the Magnitsky case, the Samara governor, and Spanish real estate.

Vardanyan is a hostage of the Kremlin in Karabakh

Of course, Russia's war in Ukraine has created problems for Russian oligarchs, who have been earning billions of dollars for years by selling natural resources. Almost all of them have been blacklisted by the EU and the US. As a result, some of them have either lost or are at risk of losing their property abroad due to sanctions. Vardanyan, who has close ties to Russia's ruling elite, is trying to defend his position by using the Karabakh factor as a pretext.

Moreover, Vardanyan, seeking to improve his image in the eyes of Western countries, nevertheless, having moved to Karabakh, shows at every step that he is a man of the Kremlin. He praises Russia and proposes to make the stay of peacekeepers in Karabakh indefinite. Apparently, the billionaire, who is trying to sit on two chairs at once, is also trying to get out of the Russian-Western conflict unharmed.

Although Vardanyan, having more than $1 billion, which he earned illegally, at first categorically denied that he would hold any "state post", but later accepted the offer to serve as the "state minister" in the separatist stub in Karabakh. This fact once again testifies to the "sincerity" of the billionaire and reveals the purpose of his visit to Karabakh - to avoid sanctions.

Another possibility is the fact that Vardanyan, who is very close to the Russian political elite, has renounced his Russian citizenship. Having moved to Karabakh, he engaged in the illegal exploitation of the Qizilbulag and Demirli fields belonging to Azerbaijan.

Vardanyan is a hostage of the Kremlin, while in return the Kremlin condones the illegal actions of the billionaire in Karabakh. Of course, he can also give Volkov a gift and negotiate with the general. However, Volkov’s status and powers on the Azerbaijani territory are unclear.

Thus, Vardanyan is a hostage of Russia, while the Armenians living in Karabakh are hostages of Vardanyan. Otherwise, local residents applying for Azerbaijani citizenship would have been active even after the oligarch’s arrival.

Proceeding from the past activity of the billionaire, his fortune was made through illegal transactions. This "billionaire philanthropist" was involved in money laundering, arms, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. One of the main directions of this "activity" passes through Iran, and Vardanyan's current steps are a continuation of his machinations adapted to the new era. The visits of Iranian officials, who can often be seen in Karabakh after Vardanyan’s illegal arrival, once again confirm this.

Vardanyan, who presents himself as a "transparent" businessman with a flawless reputation, has also close relations with criminal gangs.

There is even such information that Vardanyan had close ties with Aslan Usoyan, better known as “Ded Khasan”, who was the leader of criminal gangs in Russia. All this fully reveals the hidden goals behind the seeming benevolence.
Unfortunately, the activity of such criminal personalities as Vardanyan reduces the hopes for long-term stable peace in the Caucasus, laid down at the meetings in Brussels, Moscow, and Sochi.

As a result, the peoples living in the region suffer, and processes, including large-scale environmental terrorism, are taking place that hinder the region's development.