Azerbaijani prosecutors have brought charges against Ruben Vardanyan for serious offenses linked to the now-dissolved Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
As reported by local media, an Azerbaijani state prosecutor has asked for a life imprisonment sentence for Ruben Vardanyan—a billionaire and ex-Russian citizen currently standing trial in Baku on several charges.
The Armenian-born entrepreneur renounced his Russian citizenship after relocating to the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2022, an area long at the heart of tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He later took on a role in the administration of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In 2023, Baku regained control of the territory through military action, following which Vardanyan was detained while trying to leave.
During a Thursday hearing at a military tribunal in Baku, prosecutors repeated their claims that Vardanyan—acting in his role as state minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (also known as Artsakh)—bore responsibility for a series of crimes. These included crimes against humanity, war crimes, terrorism, and financing terrorism, the prosecution stated, urging the court to hand down a life sentence. Vardanyan’s trial began in January.
In a statement released earlier the same day through Vardanyan’s family, he reaffirmed his view of the proceedings as an “imitation of justice” and declared that “Arstakh was, is, and will be.”
Vardanyan, 57, built his fortune in the 1990s as a co-founder of the investment firm Troika Dialogue. In 2011, Russia’s largest lender, Sber, acquired the company in a deal worth $1.4 billion.