Businessman Levon Hayrapetyan finds it hard to say which is the most important region among the five regions of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, but the war led him toward some new revelations. “I was born in the village of Vank in the Martakert region and I thought that our mountains were higher and Martakertsis were stronger and braver, but the Artsakh war showed that Hadrutsis are the strongest and bravest. And all of us, all Armenians, are simply obliged to assist the development of Hadrut today.”

According to Hayrapetyan, rather than oil or gas, Armenians have a genetic potential, which has however, thus far lain dormant. He suggests that “every Armenian living outside the homeland, irrespective of where or in what field he or she has achieved success, should pay a genetic tax to the Armenian people,” because he is convinced that the initial capital of Armenians is the potential that is passed on from generation to generation.

Hayrapetyan, a successful businessman in Russia, has been paying his genetic tax for years now. In his native village of Vank he established a woodworking plant and introduced modern technologies. He built a hotel near the plant and rebuilt the road leading to the Gandzasar monastery.

“The authorities in Armenia and Karabakh have wasted a lot of time. Fifteen years ago Italy was one of the most underdeveloped countries in Europe, but they initiated a fight against corruption. For our nation, corruption is a luxury and only when we fight against it will the authorities taking the people's problems and concerns into consideration,” he said.

And while the government is trying or not trying to initiate a real fight against corruption, Levon Hayrapetyan has invited several Armenian businessmen from Russia to invest in Karabakh. “The Hadrut region deserves a special attention,” the businessman said. “Stepanakert and other regions of Karabakh are developing more rapidly.”

In his view, those who invest in Karabakh must today forget about profit, risk and other such things; during the initial period they should have only humanitarian intentions.

Levon Hayrapetyan is mostly concerned about the problems of young people in Hadrut. “We can keep them in Hadrut only if we create jobs and cultural centers and to do so we, first of all, need to develop the economy.”

You should help people, but if the aid doesn't have consequences it becomes alms. And alms makes people miserable. You should not treat people like that, especially those who have a dormant genetic potential. People just need opportunities'; they can take care of the rest themselves. You should help them get to the road, but not cross the road for them.

In an interview he gave at the opening ceremony of the Vank woodworking plant, Levon Hayrapetyan said that he could periodically send financial aid to his fellow villagers, but from the moral point of view it is better to provide them with an opportunity to work.

And in general, the businessman believes that it's right to think about noble and lofty things because during the war people set an example of greatness. Currently, Levon Hayrapetyan is planning to open a military school in Karabakh to prepare trained, skilled officers for Karabakh and perhaps for Armenia, to replace the self-made commanders who set the bar with their courage and self-sacrifice.