Russian-Armenian entrepreneur and billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, who recently moved to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), has been offered the post of State Minister of the Republic.

“I have proposed to Ruben Vardanyan – a philanthropist and public figure with great experience knowledge, I was one of the first people to welcome his decision to move to Artsakh – to accept the position of State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh, and I am ready to give him broad powers to make decisions and implement them,” Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said on Tuesday, October 4.

“Of course, this does not mean that I consider the work of the current state minister Artak Beglaryan to be ineffective, but given today’s challenges, I believe that it is necessary to consolidate national efforts.”

Vardanyan announced on September 1 that he was giving up his Russian citizenship and moving to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Using myself as an example, I want to show how important Artsakh is for me and for all of us,” he said in a video he posted on his Facebook page. “After the 2020 war, we Armenians around the world have an obligation to be together with the people of Artsakh. We should not just offer moral support, but concrete help.”