Ruben Vardanyan says he’s accepted the job of Artsakh State Minister and will start work on November 1.

Vardanyan, a businessman with ties to Russia, announced his intention to move to Artsakh last month, saying he planned to create a social movement to save what remains in Armenian hands following the 2020 Artsakh war.

The post of State Minister of Artsakh was established in 2017 after constitutional amendments abolished the post of prime minister.

What powers Vardanyan will have as State Minster remains to be seen. Former Artsakh State Minister Artak Beglaryan mainly coordinated the work of the country’s humanitarian ministries and committees- Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Social Development and Migration, the Housing Committee and the Committee on Nature Protection.

“The political developments unfolding around Armenia and Artsakh, the escalating situation surrounding the solution of the Artsakh problem, on which, without exaggeration, the fates of both Armenia and the Armenian world depend, concern me greatly. I realize that there is no more time to think, and in this situation I have no other way than to stand by the people of Artsakh and take my share of responsibility for the future of Artsakh,” Vardanyan wrote in a Facebook post today.

Vardanyan is best known for establishing the UWC Dilijan College, the Idea Foundation, and the Armenia 2020 project. He cofounded the investment company Troika Dialog in the early 1990s. He and his managers sold Troika Dialog to the Russian state-owned Sberbank for $1.4 billion. In 2014, he founded Vardanyan, Broitman and partners, an investment company serving the ultra-wealthy.

When he announced his move to Artsakh, Vardanyan said the Armenians of Artsakh feel abandoned and forgotten in the post-war period and they need the support of all Armenians.

Vardanyan said Armenian authorities do not have the resources or the desire to solve Artsakh’s problems and that Armenians must unite to develop the country.

“Only a powerful, developed Artsakh, where people believe in the future, can become a place where shots will never be heard,” he said.