No one can deal with issue of Ruben Vardanyan`s release - Andrey  Movchan

ArmInfo.  Businessman Ruben Vardanyan, who is in Azerbaijani prison, is of no use to anyone; there is no one in the world who would deal with this issue now.

Cypriot financier of Russian origin, investment specialist Andrey  Movchan expressed a similar opinion in an interview with Ekaterina  Gordeeva, speaking about why the release of Ruben Vardanyan from a  Baku prison is not beneficial to anyone.

When asked why Russia is not fighting for Vardanyan, Movchan, in  particular, said: "Can I say something cynical? Ruben Vardanyan is of  no use to anyone. Ruben Vardanyan was not an agent of the state. He  is not one of us, he is an outsider."

The financier recalled that Vardanyan always talked about free  markets; he was used when the state needed him. Molchan believes that  Vardanyan has always been a bad politician. According to him,  Vardanyan's ideas on how to do politics have always been monstrous.

"He believed that politics can be done with clean hands, beautifully  and in friendship with everyone. He turned out to be - let our  Armenian friends not be offended - a Jew in the state: smart, quick,  when it is necessary to do the job. And what happens to a Jew when he  stops doing the necessary job? He is thrown out," the expert noted.

According to him, this is what happened with Vardanyan's Troika  Dialog - it did all the necessary things, sold out to the state and  all the people who worked in this company were thrown out one way or  another.  He once again noted that he would not talk about Vardanyan  as a player in this system. Movchan is sure that Vardanyan was only a  resource for the system.

In response to the host's remark that neither Russia nor Armenia will  fight for him, the financier noted that he suspects that Armenia will  not be the first to fight for him.

"Because for the Armenian leadership, whatever it may be, he is, in  one way or another, a competitor in the struggle for power. He is a  charismatic figure after all. The situation with Ruben is absolutely  tragic. It is absolutely terrible. He is that rare type of person who  definitely does not deserve to be in such a situation.  And based on  his potential, his brains, his ability to do something, the world is  also losing the opportunity to do a lot of useful things," Molchan  added. In this vein, he recalled that Vardanyan has recently switched  to trying to bring good into the world, as he understood it.

"I honestly don't understand what to do in this situation because  there is no one in this world who is interested in Ruben getting out  of prison. For Europe, after the monstrous, scandalous investigation  about the laundromat, he is of no interest, because either he stole,  or something was stolen from him. For Azerbaijan, he is an enemy, for  Armenia - a competitor, for Russia - a spent resource who was never  part of the cohort and generally allowed himself too much. There is  no one who would deal with this issue now," Molchan concluded.

The exact number of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in  Azerbaijani prisons is still unknown.  According to experts, there  are several hundred. Today, the Azerbaijani authorities confirm that  they have 23 Armenians. Among those held in Azerbaijani captivity,  including 8 former and current representatives of the  military-political leadership of Artsakh. These are former presidents  of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan,  former Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Babayan, as well as Speaker  of the Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan, former commander of the Artsakh  Defense Army, General Levon Mnatsakanyan, General David Manukyan and  former Minister of State Ruben Vardanyan. They were captured after  the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on September 19-20,  2023. They are currently undergoing staged trials carried out by the  Aliyev regime.