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] former adviser to Vladimir Putin,[8][9][10] 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.

[14] Vardanyan has engaged in efforts to promote economic and social advancement in Armenia and Republic of Artsakh, focusing on long-term development projects.

[22][24] Later, he completed short-term courses at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France, 2000), Harvard Business School (2001, 2005, 2018), Yale University and Stanford GSB (2012, 2013).

As director of Troika Dialog, Vardanyan established relationships with Western investors and helped develop the legal framework and infrastructure for the Russian securities market.

[33] After the sale, Vardanyan devoted a significant portion of the funds to philanthropic causes and long-term infrastructure projects like the Skolkovo Business School, which he had founded in 2006.

[41] Its assets include shares in Ameriabank, UFS Transport operator, and several venture projects (Lamoda, Pronutria, NtechLab).

In 2013 Vardanyan acquired a 50% share in Avica Management Company, an investment fund, established by Gagik Adibekyan's RD Group.

[42][43][44][40][45][46] In 2015 Ruben Vardanyan launched "Phoenix Advisors", a company engaged in family welfare protection, management and succession planning.

[40] Vardanyan also co-founded the Future Armenian initiative, which contributes to a number of philanthropic ventures, with a focus on the promotion of entrepreneurship and in particular on the development of his home country, Armenia.

Based on this financial activity, whereby Santerna willingly overpaid twice, the Anti-Corruption Foundation asserted that Vardanyan's company made two disguised gifts, or bribes, to the wife of the President of Tatarstan.

In the aftermath of both investments, investigative journalists found millions of dollars of luxury real estate owned by Minnikhanov's family.

[51] He previously had served as an expert and executive member of advisory boards at Sollers JSC, AvtoVAZ, Sibur, Novatek, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, Sheremetyevo International Airport, Rosgosstrakh, International Finance Corporation, Standard Bank, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Russian Trading System, Moscow Stock Exchange, the Federal Commission on Securities Market, the Depository Clearing Company, the National Association of Stock Market participants etc.

[56] In September 2022, Vardanyan declared that he was moving to the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh) and announced that he was no longer a Russian citizen.

[57] Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Vardanyan was named in a draft bill in the U.S. House of Representatives which called for him to be targeted for individual sanctions.

[57] In his words, his actions stemmed from a desire to be with his nation during a time of crisis: “Today the people of Artsakh are in a very difficult psychological state, they have no confidence in the future.

The inhabitants of the republic, who survived two wars and lost their loved ones in the struggle for independence, feel abandoned,” he stated.

[62][15] Vardanyan submitted a request to Russian state authorities to annul his citizenship so that he could become a citizen of Artsakh, which was officially granted in December 2022.

[20][21] Following his arrest, Vardanyan’s wife was quoted as saying that “Ruben stood with the people of Artsakh, during the 10-month blockade and suffered with them in the struggle for survival.

[25] He had previously held served in supervisory boards of Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (since 2014), MSU Faculty of Economics (2014-2017), international councils at Brazilian Fundação Dom Cabral' (since 2009), Japanese International Christian University (2011-2015), and GuangHua management school in China.

The college is an international boarding school aimed at educating exceptionally talented youth, located in the Armenian city of Dilijan.

[84] in 2019, the restoration of Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha was supported by Vardanyan's Revival of Oriental Historical Heritage Foundation.

[87][88] Ilya Shumanov, president of Transparency International Russia, accused Vardanyan in January 2024 of only pretending to be a philanthropist "rather than like someone who is taking money out of the bank and working with dubious, corrupt individuals who, as is now evident, are the ones who started this war.

[94][95] He supposedly provided a loan to a business that was a part of the plan, according to one document that bears his signature, but the OCCRP claims there is no "definitive evidence" that he was aware of the fraud.

Data shows that shell company named Quantus sent nearly $500,000 to pay Vardanyan's credit card bills.

[94] On March 14, 2019, 22 members of EU Parliament from 14 countries including Lithuania, Germany, UK, Belgium, Finland, Sweden and Poland wrote an open letter to Jean-Claude Juncker – president of the European Commission – asking that he take "appropriate measures" against Troika Dialog and Vardanyan.

[97][98] In January 2022, Ruben Vardanyan was listed as one of several individuals that the Biden administration was considering to place under sanctions in House Resolution 6422, formally known as the Putin Accountability Act.

[94][3][104][10][91] In some Armenian circles, Vardanyan was accused of and criticized for supposedly suggesting that Armenia be subjected to the Russian Federation in much the same way as the autonomous republic of Tatarstan.

[108][109] A little later, in May of the same year, the Parliamentary Group of the Romanian Parliament of the National Liberal Party called for Vardanian's withdrawal from the list of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, labeling him an "enemy of Ukraine" and "sponsor of Russian aggression in the post-Soviet territories".

[119] Vardanyan's elder sister Marine Ales is a composer and songwriter, a member of the Aurora Prize Creative Council, and co-founder of "Grant Life Armenia" charity fund.

The same year, Vardanyan received the Academy of International Business Presidential Award for contribution to the development of education, and, with co-founder of the Aurora humanitarian initiative Noubar Afeyan, the Search for Common Ground prize to honor accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community building, and peace-building.