Ruben Vardanyan, in an interview with the Artsakh public television company, answered the question, what did the experience of working as the Minister of State of Artsakh for 112 days, as a figure who had never held a public position, give him, he said. “I have never looked at this period from the point of view of a government employee because it was not an ordinary period. I came to Artsakh at the end of August and said that the war is not over, that we did not even sign a cease-fire on November 9, and that the military operations have stopped, but the war continues. I should be here with you. As someone who has worked in the private and charitable sectors all my life, this experience is unique because it was challenging.
Will we survive the worst winter or not? Spring is a few days away. t was a fantastic experience in this respect. I said a hard winter could await us a few days after arriving in Artsakh. I mentioned five crises: Financial crises, constitutional reforms that started in January 2022 and have not yet been completed, managing a state in a difficult situation, a potential blockade or a severe winter, and a crisis of frustration and indifference. I found it essential to talk about and fight against these five crises. Some things we managed to change, some not. We went into winter unprepared for it to be this harsh. And I take my hat off to the people of Artsakh and express my respect for overcoming everything that happened this winter.”
Ruben Vardanyan generally agreed that in the 112 days of holding the Minister of State position, it was impossible to fully justify the expectations of the people of Artsakh to improve life. “We all want a miracle. When I came to Artsakh, I asked if you had a magic wand, what you would do. We did the most important thing. We inventoried everything that exists in Artsakh. To bring investment to work with the outside world, you must first understand what you have here.
Secondly, we analyzed how the country’s governance is carried out in Artsakh and how decisions are made. Third, we saw our weak points and where our problems were. It is not easy to diagnose and understand pain points. It is time-consuming. We planned to understand the situation in the first hundred days. And we did it. But the strict blockade, the severe restriction of movement, and the harsh life limitation stopped many things. And we couldn’t do much. However, many projects are in force, and we are implementing them,” said Mr. Vardanyan.
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Ashot HAKOBYAN
