Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan offered Russian investor and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan to become Artsakh's state minister (prime minister), Harutyunyan said in a Facebook post.
"I offered Ruben Vardanyan, a philanthropist and public figure with extensive experience and knowledge, whose decision to move to Artsakh I welcomed, to take up as Artsakh Republic State Minister and I am ready to give him broad authority to make decisions and implement them," he said.
The president said he was awaiting Vardanyan's answer. "I hope our cooperation will begin in the coming weeks, I will report the details a little later," he wrote.
In a video address released on September 1, Ruben Vardanyan said his decision to renounce his Russian citizenship and move to Artsakh was prompted by the heavy psychological crisis with no confidence in tomorrow experienced by the people of Artsakh, who have survived two wars and lost their relatives and loved ones in the struggle for independence.
Vardanyan thanked also Russia for deployment of peacekeeping troops to Artsakh to protect its population saying the mandate of the peacekeepers should be clarified and the terms of their stay should be extended until 'we can ensure the security of the people of Artsakh by our own forces," ARKA reports.
