Azernews.Az

By Trend

International organizations should raise the issue of sanctions against Russian billionaire of Armenian origin Ruben Vardanyan, American analyst Irina Zuckerman told Trend.

Ruben Vardanyan, who calls himself the "state minister of Karabakh", has not severed his ties with Russia. He renounced Russian citizenship but retained his business and assets in Russia. In 2022, he fled from Western sanctions in Karabakh and start engaging in illegal mining and export of gold from here.

"It is obvious that by joining a separatist proxy for Russia, Vardanyan has only found a new way to continue business as usual. Therefore, Azerbaijan should bring up the matter of sanctions against him to the State Department and Treasury's attention, as should human rights organizations," she said.

American analyst stressed that illegal mining of Azerbaijani gold is a violation of the country's national sovereignty and unjust enrichment of Vardanyan and his corrupt cronies.

According to her, it is worth asking where the money from the sale of illegally mined natural resources of Azerbaijan goes.

"That is the angle that would be of the utmost interest to the international community at this moment, in particular Washington and Brussels" she said.

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