Ruben Karlenovich Vardanyan (, ; born 25 May 1968) is an Armenian and Artsakhi politician who served as the State Minister of Artsakh, an unrecognized state in the South Caucasus, from 4 November 2022 until 23 February 2023. Vardanyan continues to work in Artsakh following his dismissal from the post of State Minister. Prior to his political career, Vardanyan was a businessman and philanthropist. He is the former chief executive officer and shareholder of the Troika Dialog investment bank. Early life and education Ruben Vardanyan was born on 25 May 1968, in Yerevan, Armenia. In 1985 he graduated with honours from Yerevan School No. 35. In 1985, he enrolled in Moscow State University's Faculty of Economics, located in Russia. After completing his first year, he did military service in Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenia. In 1992 he graduated with honours from the Faculty of Economics. Vardanyan was trained at Cassa di Risparmio di Torino Italian savings bank in Turin and completed a course on developing markets at Merrill Lynch in New York in 1992. Later, he completed short-term courses at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France, 2000), Harvard Business School (2001, 2005, 2018), Yale University and Stanford GSB (2012, 2013). Career Troika Dialog Vardanyan and Peter Derby founded Troika Dialog on 18 March 1991. Vardanyan first worked as an expert and then headed the IPO department. In 1992, Vardanyan entered the executive board and became an executive director. Later he became the president, CEO, and chairman of the board of directors of the company. He held the post until the company was sold. In the early 2000s, Troika had offices in New York and London. As of 2011, the partners held 63.6% of Troika Dialog shares, with 40% owned by Vardanyan. At financial year-end 2010, Troika’s assets totaled $5.75 bln, $872 mln equity and $42.346 mln revenue. On March 11, 2011, Sberbank announced its 100% acquisition of Troika Dialog for $1 bln, the transaction was finalized on January 23, 2012. The agreement also included Troika's partners’ bonuses for three years, thus the overall deal totaled $1.4 bln. Before the sale, Vardanyan owned the major block of shares (40%), estimated at $560 mln. In requital, he was offered a 20.5% stake in AvtoVAZ and a 27.3% stake in Kamaz, later sold with a profit. The merger resulted in the launch of Sberbank CIB, Sberbank’s corporate and investment banking business. From the sale of "Troika Dialog"