Andnvestor and the 116th number of the Russian Forbes list, Ruben Vardanyan, in an interview with RBC, spoke about what kind of Armenia should be built, about the phenomena revealed by social surveys, and readiness to be “both a cleaner and a leader” of the country
Ruben Vardanyan
About the prevailing moods in the Armenian society
“First of all, we must admit that the war has left a very serious deep mark on the consciousness of Armenians both inside Armenia and outside, in terms of awareness that defeat has occurred. And in this sense, November 9th was such a cold shower, but an important moment for understanding where we are. On the other hand, I must say that the state of neither peace nor war in which we lived before the hostilities, unfortunately, remained after. It seems that there is an agreement on a ceasefire, and at the same time some incomprehensible things are happening. The third,Of course, this is a political crisis that has been going on within the Armenian society all this year, including an attempt to change the government, and in various forms. It was an important event for the whole of Armenia and the Armenian society as a whole, in which, it seems to me, quite serious changes have taken place. Because society said: “Yes, the current government has lost. The current government is to blame for many of the problems that have arisen. But nevertheless we don’t want to go back, we don’t want to go back to the past, we believe that this page has been turned over.
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“We saw how three groups were very clearly formed in society. One group, unfortunately, is completely disillusioned with everything, and does not see any future, and by and large is in complete depression. The second group said: “I’m in a house, I’m hiding, I’m in a bubble in which I want to hide from all this reality, I don’t want to hear anything.” And a small group that said, “No, we want change, we want change. Let’s draw conclusions, let’s analyze what was done wrong. Ultimately, let’s calmly analyze, understand the reasons and do everything so that this does not happen again.
“We have been doing regular surveys together with international experts since December last year. This is the fourth time we have conducted a survey every three months on what is happening in Armenian society. And the result shows that, despite the severity of the situation, including not only military, but also economic, and pandemic, the majority of people, about 70%, are rather satisfied with their lives,than not satisfied. And this is a phenomenon that was difficult to imagine, because we see that people live very poorly and very poorly. This is a dangerous signal that society survives, lives every day to survive, and that’s it. And this is a state of society from which it is very difficult to withdraw. People have lost their inner drive regarding the fact that something can be changed at all.
About finding a way out of the impasse
“The country does not change systematically. And everyone understands this. But here’s what to do— this is the last question that is being asked. What kind of Armenia should be built? How should we become strong, powerful, happy, having long-term projects in this situation? There is practically no talk on this topic. And this lack of a culture of in-depth discussions about what kind of society we are building, what kind of country we want to see in a year, five years, ten years, of course, is a big problem, because people need to show benchmarks.
“There is no state thinking, which manifests itself in the fact that when you make a decision about your life, about your future, you focus on several important things: what is important for me, for my family, for my nation and for my state. Lack of understanding that the state is a friend, a partner, an institution with which I can work and cooperate,;This is a great danger, and not only in Armenia. In general, the Armenian says that “I can live anywhere in the world.” Therefore, we are really a truly unique nation that is achieving success in all parts of the world, not only in Armenia. But this is both a plus and a minus. Because the person says: “I can easily move to another country, adapt and live there.”
“It’s been 30 years since we gained independence. We have dreamed of a sovereign Armenia for centuries. We got it. And how do we manage it? To what extent have we been able to effectively create a sovereign state, which is really a very important magnet for the nation, uniting very different Armenians from different parts of the world living in different parts of the world? I think this is a very serious challenge. And when you go through defeat, you have two options. Either you accept defeat, or you understand what needs to be fixed, how to train again, change,what resources should be used to become strong and powerful, shake yourself up and say: “We want to build a strong state. We want to build an effective relationship between the public and private sectors. We want to build effective relations between Armenia and diasporas. We want to build effective relations between business and society as a whole. We want to build relations between the church and the state, between people who look at different issues in completely different ways, but at the same time united by some single idea in the future.”
“We need to take a fundamentally different look at what is happening in Armenia. For example, in the near future, realizing that one of the problems in Armenia is education, we are launching a center for leadership and personal development. Since we consider it fundamentally important that there be a powerful educational center, so that Armenia has the opportunity to provide an international level of education in business, management, andin the public service, that is, in government, on a completely different level. And this is the question, it was necessary to concentrate resources and do it. We are going to launch a Strategic Development Center in the coming week, which we consider to be fundamentally important, which will involve the best resources both inside and outside Armenia. Such projects are simply needed to make people feel that these are not just individual efforts.
About Ruben Vardanyan and his real aspirations
“Ruben Vardanyan has already been accused of all mortal sins. And that I am the new Ivanishvili of Armenia, that I am Soros of Armenia, that I am a Turkish agent. What have I not heard about myself over the past few months, which was expected, because society has accumulated a negative attitude to everything.
“Ruben Vardanyan has always been in Armenia all these years. That is, I don’t have a business there, but I have been spending a lot of time in Armenia since 2001, when we started the Armenia 2020 project. On average, two or three months a year, with arrivals. I am deeply convinced that in order to change the situation in Armenia, which I am sure can be changed, it is necessary that ten of the best doctors, ten of the best scientists, ten of the best businessmen, ten of the best designers, ten of the best architects move to the country. And if I encourage others, of course it should apply to me.”
“Yes, I’m going into Armenian politics. But this is something other than just a political party, a desire to lead the country. To want to lead the country in today’s state is to be an illogical person. Because the country is in a very difficult state. The real future is completely unclear. Society is completely split. And in this sense, to take on the responsibility of becoming a leader is to be a very brave and risky person.
“If the elite that is consolidating and thinks together that this is the right decision to have someone else,”any decision is possible, because I am ready to be both a shoemaker for my nation, and a cleaner, and a leader.”
“I believe that the maximum benefit of Ruben Vardanyan is that he can help consolidate people from the past, from the present, and from the future generation, which also sits and watches indifferently.”
About the program of concrete actions
“We have to make a correct diagnosis of what happened. We have done it, we have carried out very serious work. We understand all our illnesses. Secondly, we definitely need to unite the efforts of people who are not indifferent, who are ready for changes. Then the third thing is to work out together the program that will lead to changes and really give an opportunity to get out of this crisis.
“Now is the second stage. And he’s very important. I want people who are not indifferent, who are ready, like me, to sacrifice their well-being, their normal life, their habitual way of life, to say: “I am ready to move to Armenia. I’m ready to stand next to you. I am ready to join the army and defend Armenia. I am ready to do everything so that there is peace in Armenia, but at the same time there is strong security.” Yes, of course, together we must work out an agenda, this is also a very important issue, and then it will be clear on this agenda.
“We need to have a social movement. What we are doing in the Future Armenian project already unites 108 thousand people from 107 countries. Mostly from Armenia. If it is 500 thousand people, if it is a million, then it will already be a fairly serious social movement that can say: “This is the agenda, and we want to go and work on this agenda.”
“We have already created a strategic development center, which develops a program of specific changes. In the near future, a center will be created related to the change in the management of the state and in general everything related to the management of future institutions. There are special teams of lawyers who work only on how to do what needs to be changed. Because it’s not that easy.”
“In the economic field, we can increase our GDP from $13 billion to $40 billion within ten years without heavy fantastic stories of finding oil or something. Simply by building the economy correctly and all the processes that need to be built. I am deeply convinced that we can attract 50 thousand families who will come to Armenia and who will add energy and changes to the very worthy people living there. II am deeply convinced that we can build a very strong army, which at the same time will not just protect, but will also be the engine of economic change, because it will be a technologically completely different army, and it will be an army that will order technology. I am deeply convinced that we can have a completely different level of positioning of Armenia in the world.
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