Representatives of the Armenian ethnic group have solid positions in the Russian economy and finance, banking and insurance business, construction and trade. Seven Armenians appear on the first lines of the ranking of the richest people in Russia according to Forbes.
This is the main shareholder and general Director of the Magnit retail chain Sergei Galitsky (Harutyunyan) with a fortune of $6.8 billion, president and founder of the Tashir group of companies Samvel Karapetyan with $3.4 billion, president of Rosgosstrakh Danil Khachaturov with $2 billion, investment banker Ruben Vardanyan with $950 million, head of the supervisory board of Wooden Fish Agency Albert Avdolyan with $800 million and brothers Nikolai and Sergey Sarkisov from RESO-Garantia with a fortune of $700 million each.
Sergey Galitsky (Harutyunyan)
In the sight and ears of Russians are also the President of the Association of Russian Banks Garegin Tosunyan, investment banker Ruben Aganbegyan, entrepreneur, major investor in the separatist regime Levon Airapetyan, the “jewelry king” Hrach Avakyan, and, without a doubt, the “Godfather” of the Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan.
Ara Abrahamyan
"Don Abramarone"
The latter’s personality is so interesting that it is worth dwelling on in more detail. Head of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR), one of richest representatives Armenian diaspora in Russia, Ara Abrahamyan made a fortune in the diamond trade - at one time his brother Gagik Abrahamyan headed the largest Armenian diamond production enterprise, Shoghakn.
"...I always quickly calculate my options. Precious stones - what I got into - was a new industry for me. But I took up cutting them, built a factory - one of the best in Russia. For two or three years I worked in this business until I realized that this was not enough for me. Then I switched to navigation systems. Then at the same time I took up holography, then construction. Always and everywhere, wherever I worked, I chose the best partners, the most professional people and the most famous companies. They trusted me with money, and I always used the funds received very rationally and with high efficiency,” this, according to Abrahamyan, is the secret of his success.
Are Abrahamyan owns the diversified company Soglasie, which has implemented a number of projects, including for the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.
According to the information resource SPARK, 57.6% of “Consent” is still registered with the Nazaryevo agro-industrial association near Moscow, subordinate to the Presidential Administration (UDP), another 2.4% - with the Voskresensky livestock complex of the same UDP.
At the same time, SPARK indicates that Nazaryevo was liquidated in 2010; in the 1990s, as Kommersant wrote, fresh organic vegetables from Nazaryevo’s beds went straight to the table of then President Boris Yeltsin.
In 1998, Soglasie gained control of Lomonosovsky diamond deposit with reserves worth $12 billion, having bought a 53% stake in Severalmaz together with South African De Beers.
In 2002, the Soglasiya stake in Severalmaz was bought by ALROSA, and Abrahamyan not only did not stop working with the Presidential Administration, but also attracted another Armenian oligarch, Samvel Karapetyan, to cooperate with the department (about him we'll talk below).
For his participation in the reconstruction of the Kremlin, Abrahamyan was awarded a UNESCO diploma of honor, and has repeatedly received state awards and awards from authoritative public organizations, by the decision of the expert council of the Russian Biographical Institute, he was twice awarded the title “Person of the Year” in the “Politics” category.
In 2000, over the course of five years, Abrahamyan built the Church of St. Anne in Armenia - as a symbol of friendship between Russia and Armenia: “I tried in every possible way to emphasize this friendship. I can’t imagine the relationship between my two native countries in any other way, but how could it be otherwise? “My wife is Russian, and my children live in Russia, we are all its citizens.”
The tongue-tied Ara Abrahamyan speaks terribly not only in Russian, but also in his native Armenian language, which his compatriots recall at every opportunity. However, this did not stop him from making his way to the very top of the Russian political elite- Today he heads one of the commissions of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation.
Today Abrahamyan is the link between the Armenians of Russia, from the largest oligarchs to the small fish.
On April 16, a traffic jam of cars with government license plates formed near one of the Moscow celebration houses - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan “honored” Abrahamyan’s 60th anniversary with the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Industry and Trade and part-time millionaire Denis Manturov, heads of large state corporations, entrepreneurs, famous media figures, etc. and so on.
“I can say - Armenians are truly a friendly people, in the Union of Armenians of Russia 640 cities have branches. We are all friendly. We are like-minded on 1-2-3 issues. This is the Motherland, this is the Armenian language, faith, these are our few questions. Otherwise, we are different We don't force everyone to be the same. We don't have pioneer organization. But in business it doesn’t work like that,” Abrahamyan says with his characteristic tongue-tiedness, but the essence is quite clear.
They say that at one time, not content with the Russian expanses, Abrahamyan decided to extend his influence to the Middle East, investing a billion dollars (his own and his partners) into the Libyan economy and losing them with the death of Gaddafi. And then the man, positioning himself as one of the “leaders of world Armenians,” thoughtfully said: “Gaddafi lost his country, and I lost my money.”
When establishing the Union of Armenians of Russia, Abrahamyan put the ideology of the organization at the forefront, creating an entire institute to develop it:
"We will create an ideology of the SAR, and in the future we will begin to write an ideology for the Armenians of the world. How Armenians should be integrated into the community where they live, preserving their national dignity, language, customs. If within a few years I manage to create a “code of the Armenian”, this will be "The greatest thing I have done in my life. True, there has never been such a thing that I did not succeed in what I took on."
Today, thousands of different public organizations operate in Russia, but, as the Kommersant newspaper noted at one time, it is the Union of Armenians of Russia, headed by Abrahamyan, that will always occupy a special place among them in terms of strength and influence on processes in Russian society.
Between business and politics
The roots of close ties between Armenian and Russian political and business elites go back to the times of Robert Kocharyan. Eloquent evidence of this can be seen in Kocharyan’s entry, after the expiration of his presidential term, into the Board of Directors of one of the largest Russian companies- the financial and industrial group AFK Sistema, owned by oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov.
And today, the ex-president of Armenia, very skillfully using the financial and information levers in his hands, has a certain influence on the socio-political life of Armenia. It was under Kocharyan that MTS, owned by AFK Sistema, acquired VivaCell, one of the two cellular operators operating in Armenia at that time.
Before being appointed Prime Minister of Armenia in September 2016, the former first vice-president of Gazprombank OJSC, then deputy general director of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz LLC, and subsequently deputy general director of Gazprom Energoholding LLC, made a dizzying career in Russia before being appointed Prime Minister of Armenia in September 2016. Karen Karapetyan.
The “achievements” of almost the full namesake of the Armenian prime minister - another Karen Karapetyan, former head of the presidential administration, and now a member of the Armenian parliament from the ruling party - are firmly linked with the name of his brother Samvel Karapetyan, the richest Russian Armenian according to Forbes.
Samvel Karapetyan
It is interesting that the Armenian expert community periodically predicts first one or the other Karen Karapetyan the coveted chair of the head of government when Serzh Sargsyan’s presidential powers end in April 2018 and, according to the updated Constitution, Armenia completely moves to a parliamentary system of government, and the prime minister becomes the first person of the state -minister
At the same time, the sympathy of the population of Armenia plays into the hands of the current Prime Minister Karapetyan, along with the image of an effective manager, and billions and " useful connections"brother in Moscow.
"Own shirt"
In Russia, questions have been asked more than once: how Samvel Karapetyan managed to become the largest player in the Moscow real estate market, where strangers are not particularly favored, and break into the top 10 Russian government contractors, how companies associated with his Tashir group manage to win contracts with Administrative Offices president, Federal service protection of the Russian Federation and Gazprom?
“We are using the opportunities of the Armenian diaspora and the traditional inclination of my compatriots towards entrepreneurship,” I think this answer from Samvel Karapetyan in one of his interviews partially sheds light on the question.
Over the past few years, Samvel Karapetyan has become one of the “kings” of Russian commercial real estate. Taking 26th place in last year's Russian Forbes ranking of billionaires, the owner of Tashir is in first place on the list of Russian billionaires, whose main assets are concentrated in real estate. He is the wealthiest Russian native of Armenia - according to Forbes, over the past five years, Samvel Karapetyan’s fortune has grown five times - from $750 million in 2010 to the current one $4.6 billion
Samvel Karapetyan began his career at an enamelware factory in his native Armenian city of Tashir; his older brother Karen worked at the time in the Komsomol district committee.
At the same time, Samvel began to engage in business, creating, three years after graduating from the Polytechnic Institute, the multidisciplinary cooperative "Zenith", which was engaged in the production of rubber, metal and clothing products.
In the early 1990s, the brothers managed to take full control of the plant. Along with tableware, the company also produced metal products. Samvel Karapetyan, in search of a sales market and suppliers, acquired the “necessary connections”: the plant worked under barter schemes with the Russian Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant.
The business grew, Karapetyan began trading goods consumer consumption and other products, the business expanded to several regions of Russia, and soon he became the owner of a large trading company.
Having moved to Moscow in 1992, Karapetyan, whose distinctive feature has always been his reliance on the Armenian diaspora, then moved to live in Kaluga, where he had many relatives and friends, and where...
"Karapetyan's Empire"
The center of Karapetyan's trading company was in Moscow, and for several years he traveled there every day from Kaluga to work. Small shops and Tashir restaurants began to open in Kaluga.
“I had a plan: I came, settled, and won,” Karapetyan recalls that period in an interview.
In 1997, a turning point came in the business career of the Armenian entrepreneur. The head of the Kaluzhskoye installation and commissioning department, Ruben Galstyan, advised Karapetyan two objects for purchase - a reinforced concrete products plant and the Kalugaglavsnab company - a former Soviet enterprise engaged in the logistics of factories and organizations in the Kaluga region.
Karapetyan was especially lucky with his second enterprise - with the help of this enterprise the head of "Tashir" got into trouble friendly relations with Gazprom, which became an important counterparty of Karapetyan.
How far from gas fields Did Kaluga help Samvel Karapetyan establish business with Gazprom? Kalugaglavsnab still has old connections dating back to Soviet times with industrial enterprises in the region, but the company's main contractors were Gazprom's subsidiaries. Today, Tashir's turnover is several billion dollars, of which a billion comes from the construction and supply of equipment for Gazprom.
Very quickly, Samvel Karapetyan buys up almost all the large enterprises in the city - the Kaluga reinforced concrete products plant, a pharmaceutical plant in the city center, on the site of which Tashir has now built a shopping complex in the center of Kaluga, and a number of other companies.
"Kaluga is not Tashir!"
In the early 2000s, Tashir built hotels, two huge malls, three business centers, and the building of the Arbitration Court in Kaluga, reconstructed one of the central squares, and built 40,000 sq. m of housing. At the same time, Karapetyan continued to buy up enterprises: a brick plant was added to the reinforced concrete products plant, as well as the production of aluminum structures, windows, and facades.
It got to the point that Karapetyan almost bought out the city's electrical networks. The auction took place in 2003, two participating companies competed for a 74% stake in exchange for investments - both belonged to Karapetyan. But then the city authorities came to their senses and the auction was cancelled.
There are so many Tashir objects in Kaluga that many citizens have become irritated by it. “Kaluga is not Tashir!” - townspeople held a rally with such posters under the windows of the mayor in 2004.
“If you come to them with an idea, bring a bunch of estimates and calculations, tomorrow they will do it themselves. You can get there only by becoming part of the corporation,” complained the owner of one of the Kaluga construction companies, which very well characterizes Karapetyan’s “wolfish” grip.
Over time, Karapetyan becomes cramped in Kaluga, and Tashir began expansion into other regions. The first shopping centers opened in Yaroslavl and Tula, and in 2003 Karapetyan bought the Moscow Avtokombinat-23, on the site of which the first Rio shopping center opened two years later. Then Rio centers opened in Orel, Arkhangelsk, Rostov-on-Don, Belgorod and other Russian regions.
"My golden Moscow"
When Samvel Karapetyan set foot in Moscow in 2005, he needed the ability to establish connections with the powers that be. So, the head of "Tashir" immediately got into trouble a good relationship with the entourage of former mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
But again, one of the main guarantees of Karapetyan’s success was his reliance on the Armenian diaspora and proximity to Gazprom.
Karapetyan purchased a plot of land on Bolshaya Cheryomushkinskaya Street, where two years later the capital’s first shopping center “Rio” was built, from his compatriot and co-owner of the now defunct Mikoms Bank, Arthur Arakelyan.
“Karapetyan’s strategy is simple: in every city there is always an Armenian who knows all the rules of the game,” said one acquaintance of the businessman.
For example, Karapetyan bought his first Moscow plot from one of the owners of Mikoms Bank, Arthur Arakelyan. “Yerevan Plaza” on Tula was started to be built by the owner of the Stinkom Group company, Gennady Stepanyan (he managed to get the site, and Karapetyan’s structures built the complex and manage it).
The Europark shopping center, now part of the Tashir structure, belonged scandalously famous businessman and State Duma deputy Ashot Yeghiazaryan. And Karapetyan came to Moscow City by agreeing to invest in and complete the construction of Ara Abrahamyan’s facility, which we talked about above.
Abrahamyan, according to him, advised Karapetyan on business back in the 1990s, when he was just starting to work in Russia. The first joint project of Abrahamyan and Karapetyan, which was announced publicly, was the sale by Soglasie to Tashir during the 2009 crisis of half of the office-hotel complex project in Moscow City.
“Karapetyan has a business with many other fellow countrymen. He built the Yerevan Plaza shopping center in Moscow together with the owner of the development company Stinkom Group, Gennady Stepanyan. The complex was supposed to become a “native corner” for the Armenian diaspora in Moscow. Now the partners remain co-owners of Yerevan Plaza. Stepanyan's son, the president of Stinkom Group David, is leading several development projects with Alexander Kolokoltsev, the son of the Russian Minister of Internal Affairs.
In addition, the head of the Skolkovo business school, Gor Nakhapetyan, and the Tashir group re-opened the Aragvi restaurant in Moscow, and the partners were considering whether to rename the legendary catering outlet, for example, “Ararat”.
Now the Russian capital accounts for approximately half of Samvel Karapetyan’s real estate portfolio, but in the future he intends to increase this share to 70%. And billions of dollars in orders from Russian state-owned companies and departments do not rule out that In the future, the name of the head of Tashir may appear in another Russian Forbes rating - “Kings of Government Orders.”
In 2015, the company Cascade-Energo, part of Tashir, won 60 tenders of Moscow departments and structures worth 2.6 billion rubles. According to the SPARK information resource and the government procurement portal, the company reconstructed Moscow underground passages for "Gormost", laid heating networks for the oceanarium at VDNKh on behalf of the city's fuel and energy department, repaired ponds in Druzhba park to help the department of housing, communal services and landscaping, installed and then removed illumination in the capital for the United Energy Company.
The main feature of Tashir is complete self-sufficiency - building materials for Moscow construction projects the company delivers from its Kaluga factories. Even Tashiru’s electricity is supplied by its own network company, Kaskad-Energosbyt. Tenants of the Rio shopping centers and the Gazoil Plaza office complex, which Tashir built a stone's throw from the Gazprom office, buy electricity from Karapetyan, who has already set his sights on generating electricity.
Karapetyan’s friendship with Gazprom is also growing stronger. Today, the largest contracts from Gazprom are received by companies associated with Tashir: Gazstroy, Neftegazstroy, Spetsgazstroy and City Stroy Group. All four companies provide a variety of services to Gazprom’s subsidiaries: from the overhaul of buildings, heating networks, water treatment facilities to the construction of large-diameter gas pipelines.
Were especially valuable to the company residential complexes near Gazprom. Karapetyan held weekly meetings on them; he could often be seen at the construction site of the first building of Gasoil City. But it is impossible to manage everything, and Karapetyan in his business relies on eight vice-presidents, mostly immigrants from Armenia, some of them are his relatives.
“For 20 years, none of my many relatives have let me down. And there has not been a single case when an Armenian would have let me down,” Karapetyan likes to say.
Karapetyan has his own Fora Bank. Tashir takes out loans only on the security of already constructed facilities, so the company’s credit burden is small - about $300 million, less than the annual rental income.
Samvel Karapetyan does not hide, moreover, he boasts that "Tashir" is an Armenian company and that the Armenian diaspora in Russia helps it.
“We help each other and support each other when necessary, but most importantly, we never interfere,” he said in an interview.
It should also be noted that Samvel Karapetyan works closely not only with the Armenian diaspora in Russia, but also with the authorities of Armenia, maintaining ties with his historical homeland.
"Relatives"
At the same time, his influence on processes in Armenia is not limited only to the support of his brother Karen, business projects and charitable events. Samvel Karapetyan has friendly and even family relations with many representatives of the Armenian political and business elite.
At one time, with his mediation, it was possible to resolve the conflict between President Serzh Sargsyan and the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party, one of the richest people in the country, Gagik Tsarukyan, with whom Karapetyan is very friendly.
He was the father-in-law at the wedding of Tsarukyan’s daughter and the son of ex-Prime Minister and former Speaker of Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan. An interesting detail: when after the celebrations the owner of Tashir was about to fly to Moscow, his high-ranking friends set a table right under the wing of the plane and feasted for two hours as a farewell. They say that at this time all flights at Yerevan airport were delayed.
By the way, in fact, through the mediation of Samvel Karapetyan, the previously intractable Tsarukyan agreed on the terms of his actual surrender.
And for the sake of his friendship with another famous Armenian oligarch Samvel Aleksanyan - Karapetyan baptized his children - the owner of Tashir in 2013 even suspended the agreement to open a hypermarket of the French Carrefour chain in the Dalma Garden mall, the largest in Armenia, which he owned.
The fact is that the arrival of Carrefour could greatly affect the profits of Karapetyan’s friend, who is the leading importer in Armenia and owns the country’s largest supermarket chain.
As a result, the issue with Carrefour had to be resolved at the interstate level.
One more nuance: Samvel Karapetyan is building a shopping center "Rio" in Yerevan, the customer of the construction is the same name CJSC, in the past - the Arabkir Furniture Factory, 36.9% of the shares of which belonged to the former mayor of Yerevan, now the Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik Beglaryan. Also a shareholder of the Arabkir furniture factory was Gor Baroyan, whom local media call the assistant to the president of the Tashir group.
Baroyan owns a 25% stake in the export company Armholding, which is closely associated with Samvel Karapetyan. Many of Armholding's structures are registered at the address of Tashir's Yerevan office. The Wrestling Federation of Armenia, headed by Samvel Karapetyan, is also located here.
"Armholding", in turn, is the only member of the universal credit organization "Export Finance", which is licensed by the Central Bank of Armenia and provides credit services to organizations that are not residents of Armenia.
Today Karapetyan actively participates in various charitable projects in Armenia and Russia, donating large sums to the Luys (Light) foundation to ensure the education of Armenian students in leading foreign universities.
Karapetyan is very fond of grand gestures: in 2009 he allocated $15 million to the already mentioned Hayastan All-Armenian Fund - more than all other millionaire philanthropists combined. Today Karapetyan is on the board of chairmen of “Hayastan” as a representative from Russia and is an honorary member of this foundation.
"...Plus electrification of the entire country"
In 2015, Karapetyan’s structures bought two assets in Armenia from the Russian Inter RAO - Electric Networks of Armenia (ESA) and the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant. According to the reporting of Inter RAO for 2015, 50% of ESA cost Karapetyan 1.1 billion rubles, another 50% should have gone to Tashir in the first half of 2016. ESA's debts at the time of purchase were $220 million.
Netizens wondered why Samvel Karapetyan needed to buy Electric Networks of Armenia, the main but unprofitable energy company in his homeland. It is worth mentioning here that the deal took place after a wave of mass protests against the increase in electricity tariffs swept across Yerevan.
As Karapetyan himself later said, the purchase offer was made by representatives of the former owner of the Armenian Electric Grids Inter RAO, and he was asked to purchase the company by... the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan - he headed his administration for several years brother Samvel Karapetyan, Karen, he is also involved in his brother’s affairs at home.
According to him, an important role in the decision to buy an unprofitable asset at that time was played by the fact that Electric Networks of Armenia is a strategically important company in the country.
At the same time, Samvel Karapetyan himself assures that he personally political career not interested.
Despite such a categorical statement, analysts believe that Russian Armenian oligarchs effectively influence socio-political processes in Armenia. At the same time, their reputation in their historical homeland is very, very high, taking into account active investment in the economic and social spheres of the country.
Get your hands on the children of the Russian elite!
Today, another famous Russian investment banker, Ruben Vardanyan, is preparing to do business with the heirs of Russian billionaires. Being occupied much of the time with projects related to the inheritance and transfer of private wealth, Vardanyan says that Russia is awaiting a wave of owners transferring their companies to their heirs, and this factor will clearly manifest itself in the next decade.
According to a study by the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (Vardanyan is one of the trustees of the business school), the average age of wealthy Russian businessmen is 48 years. In 10-20 years, all of them will need services to formalize the transfer of business and fortunes.
Ruben Vardanyan
“We are talking not only about oligarchs, but also about middle-level businessmen. These are not hundreds, but tens of thousands of people,” Vardanyan assures.
What does he offer them?
At the beginning of the summer of 2015, Ruben Vardanyan opened Phoenix Advisors, An important part business - the creation of protectorates. The protector (representative of Vardanyan’s company) represents the interests of the heirs in family business(companies, trusts, foundations). Vardanyan explains that this service is needed to protect family assets; he personally has experience using a similar mechanism for heirs.
Most of Vardanyan's capital is handled by a small investment firm, Vardanyan, Broitman and Partners. The assets under its management amount to several billion dollars, the money is invested in a dozen projects managed by Mikhail Broitman's team.
A significant part of the investments is related to property management through Avica Property Investors International, where Vardanyan’s partner is Gagik Adibekyan. Among the company's projects are investments in the Dream House, Vremena Goda, OBI shopping centers, and the Romanov Dvor business center.
“Many people want to take a break from business. According to our calculations, 30% of the heirs do not plan to engage in their parents’ companies. We are ready to take on the role of a shareholder, take over the management of industrial enterprises, real estate and other assets,” explains Broitman.
According to Vardanyan’s scheme, the owner can even transfer assets to the management of another of his companies - the Cypriot VBP Cyprus, and Vardanyan and other representatives of the company will deal with strategy, represent the owner on the Board of Directors, and hire top managers.
Is this not an attempt to get our hands on the cream of Russian business?!
However, he seeks to take control of not only the business environment, but the sphere of non-profit organizations.
The Philin project (from “philanthropy infrastructure”), created for these purposes, was headed by the former head of the operational unit of Troika Dialog, Irina Ikonnikova. It will support the infrastructure of Russian non-profit organizations (NPOs) and charitable foundations, which will help “reduce their costs.”
The Philin company is ready to outsource the legal, IT, financial and personnel activities of NPOs, as well as conduct an audit of the fund’s performance and prepare reports to donors.
Thus, Vardanyan will be able to influence the sphere of non-profit organizations in Russia, actually having access to their legal and financial documentation.
"Armenian Quarter"
You can talk about ten more of the largest businessmen in Russia of Armenian origin, but from these three examples it becomes clear that the Armenian community of Russia, among other things, plays a special role in preserving pro-Armenian views in Russian society.
Armenian oligarchs, closely associated with the Armenian and Russian authorities, ensure the protection of Armenian interests in Russia. All actions of the “Abrahamyans”, “Karapetyans”, “Vardanyans”, and all the other “Armenian barons” pursue one single goal - to crush the Russian public opinion and business, turn the country into a huge “Armenian quarter” and put its entire economy at the service of the Hayastan Foundation.
Moreover, as the experience of past years shows, Armenians never do anything “for nothing”.
Sailing in the Russian channel, Armenia, through the hands of the same media captains and businessmen who have entangled Russia like an octopus, is quite effectively influencing the formation of the contours of its foreign policy. And if, in their opinion, foreign policy Moscow at one time or another does not correspond to the interests of Yerevan, this most powerful mechanism turns on at full power, resisting any changes Russian politics, which are capable of causing even minimal damage to the interests of Armenia. At the same time, the national interests of the most Russian Federation they are not taken into account; the main goal is to maintain the maximum pro-Armenian emphasis in Moscow’s policy at any cost, eliminating deviation.
It is difficult to predict how exactly such a raider seizure by the Armenians of the most various fields Russian socio-political and economic life, but history shows that this “gun on the wall” will definitely fire sooner or later.
When preparing the material, data from open sources and the media was used, including the publications Forbes, Sputnik, InoSMI, RBC, Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta 1news.az and etc.
According to readers of the newspaper "Noah's Ark", the list is presented alphabetically
This list includes the people most often mentioned in letters from our readers. The editors received 6,850 letters and messages.
We are grateful for the participation of everyone who helped in compiling this list, and we look forward to your continued activity and mutual understanding.
1. ABADJYAN Valery Arshaluysovich: winner of the 1981 World Boxing Cup, head of the public organization “Special Olympics”, Voronezh
2. ABGARYAN Edward Aramovich: Rector of the Moscow Institute of Business and Law, Moscow
3. ABRAMYAN Ara Arshavirovich: President of the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians of Russia, Moscow
4. AVAGUMYAN Kamo Kimovich: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Avilon Group of Companies, Moscow
5. AVKAKYAN Grach Sarkisovich: President of the Adamant group of companies, Moscow
6. VAKYAN Vartan Nakhapetovich: head of the Otis company for Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS countries, Moscow
7. AVAKYANTS Sergey Iosifovich: Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, Vice Admiral, Vladivostok
8. AGANBEGYAN Abel Gezevich: Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Higher School of Culture of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow
9. AZNAVURYAN Karina Borisovna: two-time Olympic champion in epee fencing, Moscow
10. HAYRAPETYAN Levon Gurgenovich: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sobesednik Publishing House, Moscow
11. AKOPOV Pogos Semenovich: chairman all-Russian organization"Association Russian diplomats", Moscow
12. AKOPYAN Vigen Koryunovich: editor-in-chief of Regnum news agency, Moscow
13. ALEKYAN Agasi Alekovich: Chairman of the Board of the regional public organization “Nizhny Novgorod Armenian Community”, owner of the Dynasty group of companies, Nizhny Novgorod
14. ALEKYAN Bagrat Geghamovich: cardiac surgeon, academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow
15. AMBARTSUMYAN Sergey Alexandrovich: President of the Monarch concern, Moscow
16. ANISONYAN Grigory Yurievich: publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Noah’s Ark”, Moscow
17. ARZUMANYAN Graat Mamikonovich: Chairman of the Board of Transstroybank, Moscow
18. HARUTYUNYAN Suren Gurgenovich: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Moscow
19. AKHINOV Grigor Artushevich: professor, head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at Moscow State University, Moscow
20. VARDANYAN Ruben Karlenovich: Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Russian Venture Company, Moscow
21. VARTANYAN Gohar Levonovna: intelligence officer, holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Battle, Moscow
22. VERMISHEVA Seda Konstantinovna: publicist, public figure, Moscow
23. GABRIELYAN Grigory Arkadyevich: geologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, president of the scientific and technical company “Geoservice”, Moscow
24. GALSTYAN Arsen Zhoraevich judoka, champion of the 2012 Olympic Games, Krasnodar region
25. GALUSTYAN Mikhail (Nshan) Sergeevich: showman, actor, screenwriter, producer, Sochi
26. GALUSTYAN Oskian Arshakovich: Major General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Law, Moscow
27. GARSLYAN Armen Gayosovich: Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metafrax JSC, Perm Territory
28. GEVORGYAN Edvin Ivanovich: President of the Edward International company, composer, Moscow
29. GEVORKYAN Gagik Gurgenovich: President of the Guild of Jewelers of Russia and the Estet jewelry house, Moscow
30. GRIGORYAN Ruben Tsolakovich: General Director of the investment and construction holding “Rutsog-Invest”, Moscow
31. GRIGORYANTS Vitaly Sarkisovich: President of Arch Limited, Moscow
32. GULYAN Eduard Karlenovich: Head of Inkomstroymarket LLC, Moscow
33. DAVYDIANTS Valentin Sergeevich: captain of the nuclear icebreaker “50 Years of Victory”, Murmansk
34. DZHAZOYAN Ashot Egisheevich: general secretary International Confederation of Journalist Unions, Moscow
35. JIGARKHANYAN Armen Borisovich: theater and film artist, People's Artist of the USSR, Moscow
36. DOLBAKEYAN Emmanuel Yegiaevich: head of the regional public organization “Armenian Cultural and Educational Society “Ararat”, Moscow
37. DOKHOYAN Yuri Rafaelovich: head coach of the Russian men's chess team, grandmaster, Moscow
38. YENGIBARYAN Robert Vachaganovich: Director of the MGIMO Institute of Public Administration, Doctor of Law, Moscow
39. ESAYAN Ruben Tatevosovich: head of the State Research Institute of Civil Aviation, Hero of Russia, Moscow
40. ZAKARYAN Gagik Tigranovich: President of CB Uniastrumbank, Moscow
41. ZARGARYAN Igor Olegovich: General Director of PEF “Soyuz”, Moscow
42. ISAHAKYAN Georgy Georgievich: director and artistic director of the Theater named after. N. I. Sats, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Moscow
43. ISAHAKYAN Stepan Isaakovich: trainer, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR, Moscow
44. ISAKHANYAN Gevorg Anushavanovich: Hero of Russia, Major General, Head of the Sverdlovsk regional organization ROSTO, Yekaterinburg
45. KAGIYAN Simon Gareginovich: founder of the public movement “Human Rights Defense of the 21st Century”, Moscow
46. KAZARYAN Arthur Leviki: Chairman of the Amur regional branch of the SAR, Blagoveshchensk
47. KAZARYAN Samvel Grigorievich: General Director of the Unipress publishing house, Moscow
48. KALENJYAN Sergey Oganovich: dean High school corporate governance RANEPA, Moscow
49. KAMALOV Armais Albertovich: doctor medical sciences, professor, head Department of the Research Institute of Urology, Moscow
50. KARAPETYAN Karen Vilgelmovich: Deputy General Director for Strategy and Development of Gazprommezhregion-gaz LLC, Moscow
51. KARAPETYAN Samvel Sarkisovich: owner of the Tashir group of companies, Moscow
52. KARAPETYAN Sahak Albertovich: Head of the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Moscow
53. KARAPETYAN Shavarsh Vladimirovich: multiple world and European champion in scuba diving, Moscow
54. MAKEYAN Grach Oganesovich: Chairman of the Armenian community “Sevan” as part of the SAR, Sochi
56. MARTIROSOV Rollan Gurgenovich: chief designer of JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau and SU-34 fighter, Moscow
57. MELIXETYAN Alexander Mamikonovich: Deputy Chairman of the Council of the regional public organization “Nizhny Novgorod Armenian Community”, General Director of the Verakangnum group of companies, Nizhny Novgorod
58. MELIK-PASHAEVA Karina Levonovna: rector Russian University theatrical arts– GITIS, Moscow
59. MIKAELYAN Karen Zalibekovich: Deputy Chairman of the National Congress of Western Armenians, Moscow
60. MIKOYAN Stepan Anastasovich: Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Lieutenant General of Aviation, Moscow
61. MIRZOYAN Hamlet Ashotovich: President of SATEX OJSC, writer, publicist, Moscow
62. MKRTCHYAN Ashot Nairievich: General Director of the travel company “Visa Concord”, Moscow
63. MOVSSYAN Movses: head of the diocese of the South of Russia of the AAC, bishop, Krasnodar
64. NAVOYAN Yuri Ludvigovich: Chairman of the public organization “Russian-Armenian Cooperation”, Moscow
65. NERSISYAN Ezras: Archbishop, Head of the New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Moscow
66. NIKOGOSYAN Nikolay Bagratovich: sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR, Moscow
67. OGANESYAN Ivan Dzhonridovich: theater and film actor, Moscow
68. OGANESYAN Nerses Gedeonovich: screenwriter, film director, Moscow
69. OGANESYAN Samvel Benikovich: President of the Orenburg Regional Fund of Armenian Culture “Teryan”, Orenburg
70. OGANESYAN Yuri Tsolakovich: physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
71. OGANESYAN Oganes Armenakovich: Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Moscow
72. PETROSYAN Evgeny Vaganovich: humorist, People's Artist of Russia, Moscow
73. POGOSYAN Grachya Misakovich: Director of Public Relations of Rosvoenstroy LLC, St. Petersburg
74. POGOSYAN Mikhail Aslanovich: General Director of JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau, Moscow
75. SAHAKYAN Grant Spartakovich: General Director of OrionStroy LLC, Moscow
76. SAGRATYAN Ashot Aristakesovich: writer, translator, Moscow
77. SAMURGASHEV Varteres Varteresovich: wrestler, champion of the 2000 Olympic Games, twice world champion, Rostov-on-Don
78. SARGSYAN Vagharshak Borisovich: Chairman of the regional branch of the SAR for the Perm Territory, Perm
79. SAYADOV Sergey Mikhailovich: founder and director of the All-Armenian Cultural and Educational Foundation “Hayazg”, Rostov-on-Don
80. SIMONYAN Margarita Simonovna: editor-in-chief of the international news agency “Russia Today”, Moscow
81. SIMONYAN Nikita Pavlovich: football player, Olympic champion, honored coach of the Russian Federation and the USSR, Moscow
82. SMBATYAN Armen Bagratovich: Executive Director of the Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States, Moscow
83. SOGOYAN Friedrich Mkrtychevich: sculptor, People's Artist of Russia, Moscow
84. STEPANYAN Gennady Shagorovich: President of the Stinkom company, Moscow
85. SURMALYAN Harutyun Armenakovich: Chairman of the Nakhichevan-on-Don Armenian community, Rostov-on-Don
86. TAVADIAN Ararat Javanshirovich: General Director of the Lusine concern, General Director of the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel, Moscow
87. TATOYAN Araik Hamletovich: Chairman of the regional branch of the SAR, Omsk
88. TATULYAN Ruben Albertovich: Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC KOTEK, boarding house "Vesna", Sochi
89. TER-GRIGORYANTS Norat Grigorievich: Lieutenant General of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Deputy Chairman of the National Congress of Western Armenians, Moscow
90. TER-GAZARYANTS Georgy Artashesovich: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Vice-President of the SAR, Moscow
91. TER-SARKISOV Rudolf Mikhailovich: first deputy. General Director of Gazprom Dobycha Shelf LLC, Moscow
92. TONOYAN Armen Sirakanovich: General Director of the Progress company, deputy. Head of the regional branch of the SAR, Ufa
93. TOSUNYAN Garegin Ashotovich: President of the Association of Russian Banks, Moscow
94. KHACHATUROV Daniil Eduardovich: President of the Rosgosstrakh group of companies, Moscow
95. KHACHATRYAN Socrates Mnatsovich: Chairman of the Yaroslavl regional public organization “Armenian Society “Nairi”, Yaroslavl
96. CHILINGAROV Artur Nikolaevich: member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Moscow
97. CHITIPAHOVYAN Petr Stepanovich: President of Transstroybank, Moscow
98. CHUBARYAN Alexander Oganovich: Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute general history RAS, Moscow
99. SHAHAZIZYAN Armen Grachikovich: General Director of the Luding company, Moscow
100. SHAHNAZAROV Karen Georgievich: film director, screenwriter, Moscow
We have already written that the Armenian diaspora in Russia very effectively influences not only the public opinion of this country, but also the decision-making process of its political leadership, even despite the fact that the agenda of the Armenians often not only contradicts, but also harms national interests Russian state.
The Armenians manage to achieve such impressive results through systematic expansion in the socio-political and economic spheres. The Armenians have already literally crushed many of the leading Russian media under their control, at the same time entangling the Russian business environment with their tentacles.
However, the far-reaching plans of the world Armenians, of which the diaspora in Russia can be considered a branch, are not limited to this.
As you know, Armenians have perfectly mastered the principles of changing the demography of regions that are strategically important for them and in which they live very concentrated.
This is the picture in the United States; in recent decades, Armenians have been actively settling in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, located on the southernmost, fertile borders, in close proximity to the Black and Caspian Seas - Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories.
Such a curious geography of Armenian migration takes on even more threatening contours when the demographic statistics of unrecognized Abkhazia are added to the data for the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories of the Russian Federation, where Armenians have also significantly increased their presence - today there are already more of them here than Georgians, and they make up about 20% population.
In all the regions mentioned above, as in their time in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenians are actively engaged in settling the territories, so that later, when the right moment comes, they can put forward their claims, the essence of which, as is known, boils down to achieving cherished goal- building “Great Armenia from the [Black] Sea to the [Caspian] Sea.
In this context, it would be appropriate to provide some statistics.
Armenians and the southern borders of Russia
Today, Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory are the largest Armenian community in Russia.
According to the 1989 census, over 182 thousand Armenians lived in the Krasnodar region (34.2% of total number Armenians in the RSFSR), according to the 2002 census - already 275 thousand (24.3% of the total number of Armenians in the Russian Federation, 5.4% of the region's population).
In the period between the population censuses of 1989 and 2002, Armenians became the second largest ethnic community in the Krasnodar Territory after Russians (in 1989, Ukrainians occupied second place after Russians).
However, according to many unofficial data, the real number of Armenians in the region is much larger than the official ones. For example, figures from 500 thousand to 1 million are given. According to the head of the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan, from 650 thousand to 700 thousand Armenians live in the Krasnodar region. The Armenian National District was formed as part of the region in 1925.
At the same time, in the Stavropol Territory, Armenians are the second largest Armenian community in Russia.
According to the 1979 census, 40 thousand Armenians lived in the Stavropol Territory, according to the 2010 census - already 161,324. Thus, according to official data, Armenians make up 6% of the region’s population. According to unofficial data, about 300-400 thousand Armenians live in the Stavropol Territory (from 11% to 15% of the population), which indicates an excessively high concentration of Armenians in this region.
Considering bad experience Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenians were actively settled from Persia and Asia Minor through the efforts of the Russian Empire, subsequently becoming the majority, as well as Abkhazia, where today they are the second largest ethnic group, it can be assumed that the two Russian regions mentioned above are expecting even more serious problems than those that residents have already encountered.
Here are just a few examples that go back to the now distant 90s. It was then that the Armenians began to lay the foundation of their criminal network in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories.
Armenian war for Mineral Waters
As the influential newspaper Kommersant noted in 1998, it was then that the “Armenian war for Mineral Waters” was going on, which the operational-investigative team of the Southern RUOP, the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the prosecutor’s office of the Stavropol Territory were able to stop with great difficulty.
For six years, criminal groups have been fighting for control of the elite resort area of the Caucasian Mineral Waters.
Here's what Kommersant writes about it:
“...The situation changed when a large number of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh gathered in the region. In 1991, Armenian cultural-national communities were created there, headed by wealthy people with extensive connections in local government structures. Officially, communities were created to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and assist Armenian entrepreneurs. In practice, they were actually a cover for “self-defense units”, which mainly included fighters who had previously fought in Karabakh. One of these communities, Pyatigorsk, was headed by Valery Grigoryan and Razmik Mnatsakanov. Their assistants were thief in law Aram Yuzbashev and criminal bosses Arthur Dodoyan (Arthur Orenburgsky), Vanik Karakozyan, Gennady Novosardyan (Geno) and Aram Yeritsyan.
[…] Law enforcement Caucasian Mineral Waters for a long time maintained Olympic calm while [Armenian mafiosi terrorized the city]. None of the murders were solved. This could have continued further if the then prosecutor of the Stavropol Territory, Yuri Lushnikov, had not become interested in the situation. He contacted the Southern Regional Department for organized crime with a proposal to create an operational investigative team that would investigate the “war for Narzan springs.” Over the course of a year and a half, the brigade, whose number ranged from 25 to 50 people, managed to solve 101 crimes committed by Armenian criminals.
[...] More than 30 firearms, thousands of pieces of ammunition, as well as military mines and homemade bombs were seized from the criminals.
It is interesting that when the investigation began to bring results, inspectors from Moscow began to frequent the Stavropol region. The inspections ended with the fact that Lushnikov, who had repeatedly stated that both the heads of the internal affairs bodies of the Stavropol Territory and the employees of the administration of the Caucasian Mineral Waters were corrupt, was removed from his post “for unsatisfactory work.” The former prosecutor himself said that he was constantly under pressure from “a variety of parties,” and he was offered $1 million to stop the criminal prosecution of members of the Armenian group. When he refused to take the money, they dealt with him with the help of his colleagues from the prosecutor’s office,” the newspaper wrote.
However, over the years the situation has not changed.
It all started with a fight in the Evgenia cafe on the night of September 20-21. According to the regional prosecutor's office, the fight occurred between Andranik Ts. and Roman S. The Armenian hit the Russian on the head with a bottle.
While the head of the man hit by the bottle was being sewn up, his friend Anatoly Larionov was waiting for him, who was attacked by Andranik’s friends.
The fact is that the Armenians who participated in the brawl in the cafe did not consider the incident to be over and went to the central regional hospital to further clarify the relationship. It was there that 40 Armenians attacked the young man, brutally beating him to death.
Immediately after the arrest of the main defendant in the case of a mass brawl with a fatal outcome in the Mineralnye Vody hospital, the Armenians of Stavropol issued an open letter, trying to “turn the arrows.”
“Some destructive forces are trying to present this fight as an interethnic conflict, despite the fact that among the detainees and suspects there are representatives of various ethnic groups... Unfortunately, in the Stavropol region there are attempts to give an interethnic color to domestic and criminal conflicts,” the letter noted.
However, the residents of Mineralnye Vody did not agree with them - they went to a rally to protest against the arbitrariness of the Armenian bandits.
And this is far from an isolated case of crimes committed by the Armenian ethnic group in the south of Russia.
Bloody massacre of thieves in law
The person involved in another high-profile case - Sochi resident Vladimir Ohanyan, a participant in the murder of the famous Sochi crowned thief in law Pyotr Kusaev, managed to hide from justice for 8 long years. It was only in August 2015 that the lawless man was caught in the vast expanses of Armenia.
July 14, 2007, residents of Molokova Street in Sochi still remember with horror and flinch from every pop and explosion of firecrackers.
Then no one paid attention to the modest Zhiguli that drove into the yard. Suddenly, four men jumped out and opened fire on the “authority” who lived here, Pyotr Kusaev, in front of the women and children who were numb with horror.
Law enforcement officers found out that another local crime boss, Grigory Yeremyan, became the organizer and participant in the high-profile murder. The reason for the discord between the two authorities was that the Ossetian Kusaev entered into conflict with part of the Armenian diaspora.
Wasting no time, Yeremyan took his faithful “comrades” Arthur Karogozyan, the aforementioned Vladimir Ohanyan and Eduard Pashyan, got into the Zhiguli and went to the enemy’s house. They were not stopped even by the fact that there were small children walking in the yard who could have died from bullets. Having done their job, Eremyan with his accomplices and weapons fled to Abkhazia, then moved to Armenia.
Church adherents of Nazism
Meanwhile, in parallel with the criminal world, the main ideological forge of the Armenians, the church, is also doing its “business” in the South of Russia. And influential representatives of the diaspora help her in this, one of whom is a native of the Krasnodar Territory - Sergey Galitsky (last name before marriage - Harutyunyan) - a Russian entrepreneur, founder and co-owner of the large retail chain Magnit. Galitsky is today one of the richest people in Russia with a fortune of $6.8 billion.
Since 2008, the businessman has owned the Krasnodar football club, for which he built a state-of-the-art stadium that cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
So, sometimes Armenian “patriots” irritate local residents with their excessive assertiveness and arrogance.
Let us give as an example one case that took place not so long ago.
So, the Armenians erected a memorial plaque in Armavir (Krasnodar region) ... in honor of Nazi bastard Garegin Nzhdeh.
In all likelihood, Armenians no longer see any difference between Yerevan, where a monument to this Nazi was recently unveiled with the participation of President Sargsyan, and Armavir.
“How is this possible? Next to the memorial plaques to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War install a sign of an Armenian leader who collaborated with the Nazis,” several residents of Armavir are indignant. It was they who discovered a memorial complex on the territory of a local temple with the name of a person who helped the Nazis.
As you know, Nzhdeh was sentenced to 25 years for collaborating with the fascists. But this scoundrel did not leave prison; he died of a serious illness in 1955.
And 57 years later in Armavir (Nzhdeh has nothing to do with this city, Armenians simply live here), on the territory of the Armenian Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God, installed a memorial plaque to this criminal.
I believe that such proximity of a traitor to real heroes is simply unacceptable,” says Armavir resident, lawyer Ilya Khlopkov in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda. - I myself was on the territory of the temple and saw this memorial. And when I began to find out when it was installed, it turned out that it was erected on the initiative of the youth committee at the Armavir branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia. Why was it necessary to place on the same board a person who voluntarily cooperated with the Third Reich? The organizers of this memorial were not embarrassed by the fact that Garegin Nzhdeh, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison, was never rehabilitated. But the criterion for installing a memorial plaque to a person is indisputable services to society, and all achievements must have official recognition and confirmation with relevant documents.
According to media reports, residents of Armavir gathered to go to the prosecutor's office so that the servants of the law would sort out this matter.
True, the Armenians have nothing to do with this.
What commemorative plaque Garegin Nzhdeh, someone doesn’t like what was installed on the territory of our temple, this is the first time I’ve heard from you. “No one came to us with complaints or demanded that we remove it,” Archpriest Makar, rector of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, told the same “KP.” - For us, Nzhdeh is a man who fought for the rights of Armenians, and we do not consider him a traitor!
Briefly and very clearly.
We Armenians, they say, are not interested in what you “locals” are up to there. We will do what we consider necessary. Shoot, beat, kill, erect monuments to the Nazis...
As one of the Armenian users on the VKontakte social network noted, “all that remains now is to legitimize the rights to the well-developed territories of the South of Russia and... break through to the Caspian Sea, and then, lo and behold, it will be possible to connect all these lands with Armenia.”
Perhaps this phrase will seem terribly primitive and fantastic to some. However, do not underestimate the Armenians. This is precisely their biggest trick, because they convinced the Russian people and authorities that no threat to the Russian state could come from them. But the facts indicate the opposite - the threat, and a very serious one, not only exists, it is gaining serious momentum.
Mamedova Leila 10.30.2015 at 12:00
On the eve of National Unity Day,celebratedNovember 4,websitemade a series of programs aboutlife of national diasporas in Russia. Visiting todaywebsite Vice President of the Union of Armenians of Russia German Ananyants. German Sergeevich saysabout the long-standing friendship of the Russian and Armenian people, the way of life of Armenians in Russia and the preservation of ancient traditions.
- German Sergeevich, m How many Armenians live and work in Russia today?
- Today in Russia there are 1 million 700 thousand Armenians, citizens of Russia, and approximately 400-500 thousand Armenians who are not citizens. These are migrant workers or just those grandmothers who came to visit their grandchildren.
Russian Armenia is very large, most of the Armenians live in the Krasnodar region. There are about 600 thousand Armenians there, citizens of Russia.
- Because it's warm there?
- Yes, it's warm. But the main thing is what Catherine did in her time. She resettled Armenians specifically in the Krasnodar region to boost agriculture, cheese making, and so on. Therefore, the Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory are, as people call it, not those who came in large numbers, but those who settled a long, long time ago, even when no one remembered the Cossacks.
- Only?
- Yes. There are another 100 thousand Russian Armenians in the Moscow region. Therefore, a powerful and huge public organization was created that unites all Armenians, called the Union of Armenians of Russia. It is headed by a major philanthropist, businessman, politician, ambassador good will Ara Abrahamyan.
The Union of Armenians of Russia is 15 years old. Just the other day the congress of the Union of Armenians of Russia took place. Living here, Armenians easily adapt to the Russian environment.
Of course, those who come now cannot be compared with those Armenians who were here before the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that time, Armenians were widely represented by prominent scientists, marshals, generals, and so on.
But times change, and different people have arrived, mainly the working class and others. In this regard, social strata have, of course, changed. Well, the number, of course, has risen considerably. Since Soviet times there have been many mixed families. I myself am married to a Russian and have lived here for 50 years.
The people also change according to the situation, but the Armenians themselves are a law-abiding people. By the way, the head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Krasnodar Territory, where there are the largest number of Armenians, reported to the governor and the Armenian delegation that Armenians are in last place on the crime scale.
Our Union and Ara Abrahamyan help Russia a lot. He helps the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, he also helps Armenia - he opened a canteen for the poor, where 250 people can dine at the same time. Now Ara Abrahamyan is building an Orthodox church in Armenia, and it was consecrated by Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill.
- The Union of Armenians of Russia helps Armenians here too. What are the main directions?
Of course, we pay a lot of attention to the adaptation of various refugees and simply visitors who cannot adapt.
- By the way, is it difficult for an Armenian to obtain refugee status?
- No. When the events of 1990 took place in Azerbaijan, many people received refugee status here, including in Moscow. But, of course, our main vector is aimed at preserving our culture, language, history, and mentality.
It’s no secret that the mentality is Eastern, Armenian, and upbringing plays a big role. We raise children well, especially girls. We have opened optional Armenian classes here.
Today we are building churches all over Russia. Ara Abrahamyan also takes part in this. We have such a concept - a khachkar, which is a cross-stone. Before last Easter, we installed about 25 of these khachkars in Russia.
Of course they help us local authorities in all regions. We have a regional branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia in almost all subjects of the Russian Federation.
Naturally, there are a lot of problems. Every day I receive people who have some kind of setback: they need an urgent operation, their child is not able to get into school, and so on. Where necessary and possible, of course, we do not refuse, even if help is needed for a person under investigation. But in most such cases we refuse, because if a person commits a crime on the territory of Russia, he must answer within the legal framework of the Russian Federation. We have never been either chauvinists or nationalists. We are citizens of Russia.
Naturally, Russia is in the foreground for us. We serve in the army, we will fight for Russia, we pay taxes in Russia, we raise our children here, this is our Motherland.
Living in Moscow, I have always helped, am helping and will continue to help representatives of the Republic of Azerbaijan. I have many Azerbaijani students and graduate students. In this regard, we are trying to maintain warm, good-neighborly relations in Moscow. I often say: deal with Nagorno-Karabakh without us. We are in another state. We have the Congress of the Peoples of Azerbaijan. I always want only warmth and peace in our home.
- Do Russian Armenians have one organization?
- Yes, there is only one official federal organization. There are also organizations that are associated members of the Union of Armenians. Very often, unfortunately, they try to rush to Moscow. Although we send them to the field so that issues can be resolved there.
An important point is that we are often used to repainting some nasty household item into a national map. We are categorically against it. I know a case where a Russian and an Armenian drank together for 25 years. Then someone killed someone, I don’t remember who killed whom. What does the national card have to do with it? This is an everyday thing, no need to inflate it. We should not push people together, but unite them.
I am very glad when diasporas unite their people, instill in them love for their ethnic homeland, but if this does not develop into all-Russian love, then there will be nationalism. We need them, as citizens of Russia, to put our Russia first and foremost.
Let's not turn a blind eye to the fact that the notorious Soviet doctrine of friendship of nations is more a myth than a reality. In reality, after the collapse of the USSR, everything appeared as it really was.
- Is present life more progressive than that doctrine or is it simply more multifaceted and more complex?
More multifaceted, much more complex, with all sorts of geopolitical changes in the world and here. You must be able to keep up with changes.
- In many countries, for example, in France, there are large Armenian diasporas. The younger generation is also traveling to Europe. What is their attitude towards Russia?
After the revolution, all the peoples of the Soviet Union shouted: the Russians and I are brothers forever! Some Armenians were silent. When the Armenians were asked: why are you silent? They answered: what does revolution have to do with it? We have been brothers with the Russians for 500 years. The revolution did not affect us. We truly have a centuries-old friendship, it is imbued with deep roots.
- But an Armenian, to some extent, remains an Armenian in any country...
Yes, of course, we follow all our traditions. My son is a half-breed. When he started a family, for some reason my Russian wife categorically insisted that he marry an Armenian. This surprised me very much and I decided to ask: wife, why do you insist so much? She says: we spoiled him so much that I can’t imagine who else can withstand his character.
Armenians in Kievan Rus
The first Armenians began to penetrate into Kievan Rus after 988, due to the marriage between the prince Kievan Rus Vladimir and the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Vasily, Princess Anna Porphyrogenitus. Together with his bride, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich brought from Byzantium a large number of Armenian priests, architects, doctors and other specialists, whom he settled in Kyiv and its surroundings. In the 11th century, there were already about 40 thousand Armenians in Kievan Rus. Among the troops of the great Prince of Kyiv An Armenian detachment took part in the battles against the Polovtsians. The Life of St. Theodosius of Pechersk tells about his debates with Kyiv Armenians about faith. In the “Life of the Venerable Father Agapit” (from the “Paterikon” of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra) a skilled Armenian doctor is mentioned: “At that time there was a certain doctor in the city of Kiev, an Armenian by birth and faith, very cunning in healing, as if there had never been one before ”, which with “diligence as a doctor” by Vladimir Monomakh.
Armenian architects participated in the construction of temples and other objects in different cities Kievan Rus. In particular, they took part in the construction of architectural masterpieces of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. In many churches and monasteries in Rus', separate chapels, porches and side chapels were dedicated to Armenian saints.
Armenians in the North Caucasus and Ciscaucasia
The Armenian chapel of St. Grigoris, erected on the site of his death in the 4th century
The first appearance of Armenians in the North Caucasus is unknown, however there is evidence confirming the presence of a significant Armenian population in the south of modern Russia as early as the 1st century BC. e. and this was connected with the expansion of the king of Great Armenia, Tigran the Second in 95-55. BC e. Although the territory itself North Caucasus was not part of Greater Armenia, but a contingent of thousands of Armenian legions and their families was located there according to the agreement on a military alliance between Tigran and the Pontic king Mithridates, whose possessions included the Northern Black Sea region, including Crimea and the coastal parts of the modern Krasnodar Territory and Rostov region. Further settlement of Armenians in the North Caucasus occurs in the early Middle Ages and is associated with the Christian missionary activity of Greater Armenia, seeking to spread Christianity among its pagan neighbors. At that time, the territory of southern Russia was part of the Alanian kingdom, the main inhabitants of which were Iranian-speaking Alans - the direct ancestors of modern Ossetians. There is a story recorded in the “History of Armenia” by Movses Khorenatsi (5th century) about the abduction of the Alanian queen Satenik by the king of Great Armenia Artashes (189-160 BC).
On the territory of the modern Derbent region of Dagestan at the beginning of the 4th century, during his missionary activity, Saint Grigoris, the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator, who was sent to spread Christianity in Iveria and Caucasian Albania, died at the hands of pagans. At the place of his death (on the outskirts of the modern village of Nyugdi), the chapel of St. Grigoris was erected, which is a place of pilgrimage for many believers. In 680-885 Derbent was part of the Armenian Emirate.
A new massive flow of Armenians to the North Caucasus dates back to the 11th-13th centuries in connection with the Turkic invasion of Greater Armenia and the fall of the Armenian capital city of Ani. In the regions of Kuban by the 14th century there were approx. 11 Armenian villages, the inhabitants of which later founded the city of Armavir on the territory of the modern Krasnodar Territory.
In the 17-18 centuries, tens of thousands of Armenians left the territory of Eastern Armenia (mainly Plain Karabakh) and settled in the territory of the modern Stavropol Territory, Chechnya and Dagestan, creating their own colonies near Kizlyar (the village of Karabagly), Stavropol, Mozdok, and also founding the city of Surb Khach, corresponding to the modern city of Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory. At the end of the 18th century, Armenians lived in the village of Nyugdi near Derbent, we find confirmation of this in a letter from Catholicos Joseph of Argutinsky to the commander of one of the units of Count Zubov (he was sent to the south by Catherine II) General Sergei Bulgakov, dated August 1796. This letter provides a list of 9 Armenian villages and their inhabitants in the Derbent and Mushkur provinces, including “Nugdi”
A new massive flow of Armenians to the North Caucasus occurred in the 19th century and especially at the beginning of the 20th century, due to tragic events in Western Armenia. Almost the entire surviving Armenian population of the Trebizond vilayet of the Ottoman Empire, between 1835-1916, emigrated to the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus, settling mainly in the former Adyghe-Circassian villages, whose inhabitants (Shapsugs, Ubykhs, etc.) , on the contrary, were forced to emigrate to the Ottoman Empire and settled, in turn, in villages abandoned by the Armenians. Some of the Armenians, considered to be from the ancient Asia Minor city of Edessa (the modern city of Sanliurfa in Turkey), emigrated to the modern Stavropol Territory, where they founded the settlement of Edissia, located in modern. Kursk region.
By 1921, approx. people lived in the North Caucasus and Ciscaucasia. 150 thousand Armenians, in 1989, due to high natural population growth, their number exceeded 400 thousand.
After 1989, a new flow of Armenians poured into the region, and this was associated with the tragic events in the South Caucasus: the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, the earthquake in Spitak and Leninakan, etc. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Armenians from the South Caucasus again found their refuge in the North Caucasus.
As of 2010, in the region, according to official data, there were approx. 600 thousand Armenians, but these data are considered artificially low. According to Armenian sources, the number of Armenians in the North Caucasus and Ciscaucasia is approx. 2 million people.
Armenians in Crimea in the 8th-18th centuries
In the 8th century, Crimea was part of Byzantium, and Armenians (who were subjects of Byzantium) moved from various cities of the empire located on Armenian Highlands, to Crimea.
During the 11th-12th centuries, raids by Seljuk nomads undermined the foundations of the Armenian region and residents gradually emigrated to other regions of Byzantium, including Crimea. Among the first settlements were Kaffa (now Feodosia), Solkhat, Karasubazar (now Belogorsk), Orabazar (now Armyansk).
The stability of the region allowed for active economic activity. Even the Mongol invasion did not greatly shake the well-being of the Armenian community of Crimea.
The presence of the Genoese in Crimea also contributed economic development. As difficulties in Armenia intensified, more settlers moved to Crimea. In the 12th century, there were more than forty parishes of Armenian Apostolic Christians, the Armenians became the second largest ethnic group in Crimea (after the Crimean Tatars), the number of Armenians was so large that for some time the Genoese called the southeastern coast of Crimea “Maritime Armenia”, particularly in the city In Kaffa (modern Feodosia), Armenians made up 2/3 of the population.
In 1475, Crimea passed to the Ottoman Turks, persecution of non-believers began, and the Crimean Khanate became an ally of the Ottoman Empire.
Despite the strengthening of Islam in the region, Armenian communities continued to exist in Kafa, Karasubazar, Balaklava, Gozlev, Perekop and Surkhat. In the 1770s, in order to weaken the Crimean Khanate, A.V. Suvorov resettled the entire Armenian and Greek population to the Azov province. In 1783, Crimea passed to Russia.
Armenians in the Volga region in the XII-XV centuries
In the 12th century, Armenians appeared in Volzhsk-Kama Bulgaria, and by the end of the 13th century, the founding of Armenian colonies in the territories of the Golden Horde in the city of Sarai-Berke dates back to the end of the 13th century. In the 14th century, the Tatars ravaged the northern regions of Armenia, as a result of which thousands of Armenian prisoners ended up in Astrakhan. After the fall of the Golden Horde and the formation of the Astrakhan Khanate, Armenians settled in its capital - Khadzhi-Tarkhan.
Armenians in the Russian Kingdom
Armenian Lane
Drawing of an Armenian church in Moscow
M. Averyanova
Armenians have lived in Moscow for 800 years. An Armenian colony was founded in Posad and it is known that marriages and nepotism took place between Armenians and residents of Moscow.
In the 16th century, alien Turkic tribes finally destroyed statehood in Armenia and divided the country into Western and Eastern Armenia, as a result of which a large number of Armenians left Armenia and scattered over vast areas from China to Europe, many Armenians moved to Moscow Russia, founding significant colonies.
Basically, all these colonies consisted of merchants, builders, doctors, artists, jewelers and artisans. Armenians in Russia enjoyed special privileges; for example, by decree of Ivan the Terrible, Armenians enjoyed tax benefits. Thus, the king sought to attract as many Armenians as possible under his citizenship. Thanks to this, various gold painters, artists, minters, and jewelers came to Russia.
The understanding that the Armenians had a dramatic, positive impact on the country’s economy forced Russian rulers to create more and more privileges for the Armenians.
According to chronicle source, in 1552, during the capture of Kazania by Russian troops, the Armenian gunners, who were in the service of the Tatars, refused to shoot at the Russian troops, and when they were forced, they shot over their heads. In gratitude to the Armenians, Ivan the Terrible dedicated the upper tier of one of the nine chapels of the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow (St. Basil's Cathedral), built in honor of the capture of Kazan, to Saint Gregory of Armenia.
In the 16th century, the Armensky Dvor living room appeared in Moscow, where goods were imported from all over the world.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich contributed to the settlement of many Armenians - merchants and artisans - in Moscow. The Armenian artist Bogdan Saltanov began working under him in the Moscow Kremlin; his paintings in the Kremlin have been preserved to this day.
In the 17th century, Russian tsars continued to encourage the activities of Armenian merchants.
In 1660, the Armenian merchant from New Jugha Khoja Zakar Sagradov (Sharimanyan) presented the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with a diamond throne.
“1660, the Great Sovereign Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich struck with his forehead the Kizilbash shah's holy man Ihto Modelevletov, the merchant Armenian Zakhary Saradarov in a gift: chairs set in gold with stones, diamonds and yachts and pearls, estimated at 22,591 rubles. Altyn."
To decorate the throne, Armenian merchants purchased a huge amount of precious stones in India, including 800 wonderful diamonds. The throne is covered with gold basma and chased mesh overlays, which were decorated with precious stones. Of the four pillars of the seat base, two additional pillars leaning back were placed on the two rear ones, forming the backrest. On the back, covered with black velvet, two Geniuses are embroidered in gold and pearls. With one hand the Geniuses hold a trumpet, and with the other they support a crown completely covered with diamonds, yachts and pearls. The breasts of the Geniuses are also decorated with yachts and pearls, and between them there is an inscription studded with pearls: “To the most powerful and invincible Emperor Alexei of Muscovy, who reigns safely on earth, this throne is made with great art; may it be a foreshadowing of eternal bliss to come in heaven. Summer of Christ 1659".
This amazing diamond throne did its job. Partly thanks to this, in 1667 an agreement was concluded between Russia and the Armenian trading company of Nor-Juga, according to which Armenian merchants were granted the privilege of free trade on waterways from Astrakhan to Arkhangelsk and the right of transit through Russia to Western Europe.
This wonderful work art, is now kept in the Kremlin Armory as a monument to geopolitical cooperation between Russians and Armenians.
Armenian architects left a significant mark among monuments throughout the Russian state, and Armenian merchants played a major role in strengthening trade and cultural relations Rus' not only with the regions lying in the south, but with almost the whole world, because Armenian merchants managed to achieve special privileges not only in Rus', but in almost all countries of the world.
Armenians in the Russian Empire XVIII century
Church of St. Catherine
After several years of wandering around Europe, and not having achieved a positive response from European monarchs to his project for the liberation of Armenia, the Armenian prince Israel Ori arrived in Moscow in 1701 in order to appeal to the Russian sovereign Peter I. Peter I listened carefully to the request of the Karabakh meliks (princes) about intercession from the Persian yoke, after which the king promised to help Armenia immediately after the end of the war with Sweden. Israel Ori received the rank of colonel in the Russian army and, at the head of a special Russian embassy, was sent to Persia. However, Israel Ori's plans were not fully realized. Upon returning from Persia in 1711 to Astrakhan, the Russian envoy Israel Ori died suddenly. But Peter I did not forget his promise to start a war for the liberation of Armenia, having ended the war with Sweden, he undertook his famous “Caspian Campaign” in 1721. The conquest of Armenian Karabakh, which makes up the northern provinces of Persia, did not take place at that time; the Russian Empire did not yet have sufficient forces. However, the Armenians learned about the possibilities of implementing a military-political commonwealth with Russia in the name of liberating their country. And as a result, political connections began to increase. After this, decrees of Peter I appeared in which he encouraged the resettlement of Armenians to Russian borders. On November 10, 1723, Peter I signed a decree according to which the Armenians living in the North Caucasus and the Caspian regions were granted a number of privileges, they were allocated places for settlements in the Caspian territories and significant assistance was provided. During these years, thousands of Armenian settlers arrived from Karabakh to Kizlyar, Mozdok and other cities. Many Armenians received titles of nobility for their contribution to the development of Russian trade with foreign countries. These are the well-known names of philanthropists Lazarevs, Atrapetovs, Abameleks, Argutinskys, Delyanovs, Loris-Melikovs and others. Following Peter I, Empress Catherine II continued the policy of resettling Armenians to Russia.
From the decree of Catherine II: “We give permission to people from beyond the Caucasus Mountains to settle and recognize it as beneficial to found cities for the Armenians.”
Since then, there have been cities and areas of compact residence of Armenians in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov and other regions of Russia, in Nikolaev, Kherson, Odessa regions. This is how cities founded and inhabited by Armenians appeared in the south of Russia. This is Nakhichevan-on-Don in 1779 and five villages adjacent to the city, Grigoriopol in 1792 (now Transnistria), Holy Cross (Budennovsk) in 1799, and a little later Armavir was founded in 1837 (now Krasnodar Territory). All these settlements were founded with the knowledge, permission and by order of the Russian rulers; not only Armenians lived in the cities, but also representatives of other nationalities, but when they were founded, Armenians were the overwhelming majority. In addition, there were large Armenian communities in various cities of Russia: Kamenets-Podolsky, Astrakhan, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other settlements. In addition, in the 18th century, active negotiations were held between the Armenian merchants and the Russian rulers for the annexation, or more precisely, for the liberation of Eastern Armenia from the power of the Persian shahs, and subsequently a war was planned for Western Armenia. There were projects for the liberation of Armenia among major Armenian ideologists liberation movement. Such as: Joseph Emin (1726-1809), Movses Bagramyan (born and died unknown, lived in the middle of the 18th century), Shaamir Shaamiryan (1723-1798) and others. The constitution of the future free Armenia was written by representatives of Indian Armenians. In addition, the main ideologists of the liberation movement of the Armenian people linked their hopes for the liberation of Armenia with the Russian Empire.
Eastern Armenia as part of the Russian Empire 1828-1918.
According to the official Soviet census of 1926, 1,567,568 Armenians lived on the territory of the USSR, of which 195,000 (12.4%) lived on the territory of the RSFSR, mainly in the region Northwestern Caucasus and the lower reaches of the Don. The population of the Armenian SSR itself was 743,571 (47.4%). Armenians had one of the highest rates of natural increase. Thus, from 1926 to 1989, a 3-fold increase in the size of the Armenian population was recorded, and this, despite the death of over 300 thousand Armenians on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War and about the same number in Stalin’s concentration camps. By the time of the collapse of the USSR, almost 5 million Armenians lived in the country, including about 600 thousand in the territory of the RSFSR. Armenian organizations themselves dispute these figures, believing that during the Soviet census many Armenians were deliberately registered as “Russians” and the real number of Armenians in the RSFSR on the eve of its collapse should have been about 1 million people.
Armenians fought heroically on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Over 600 thousand Armenians went to the front, half of them did not return. Among the military leaders of the Soviet Army there were 60 Armenian generals and admirals. One of the organizers Navy USSR and the founders of the scientific direction in the field of the history of naval art was the admiral of the fleet USSR I. S. Isakov (Ter-Isaakyan). During the war in the navy, he held high command positions, including deputy minister and chief of staff of the USSR Navy. His “Marine Atlas” became a textbook in many academies around the world. Armenian people gave the Motherland four marshals - Bagramyan, Babajanyan, Khudyakov (Khanferyants), Aganov and one admiral of the USSR fleet. There were three high-ranking fleet admirals in total: Isakov, Kuznetsov and Gorshkov. It is noteworthy that the listed Armenian commanders represent all branches of the Armed Forces of our army. For comparison, let's say that all of Central Asia, all of Transcaucasia (except for Beria) and all of pre-war multimillion-dollar Moscow did not produce a single combat marshal. Tamanskaya rifle division(the only national division in the Soviet Army) under the command of Major General Nver Safaryan participated in the storming of the Reichstag. Shoulder to shoulder with the Russians and other peoples of the USSR, the Armenians heroically defended Moscow and Leningrad, fought for Brest and Kyiv, Odessa and Sevastopol, fought at the walls of Stalingrad and in the vastness of the North Caucasus, defeated the enemy in Kursk Bulge and on the Dnieper, participated in the liberation of Ukraine and Belarus, the Baltic republics and Moldova, and took part in the defeat of imperialist Japan.
Armenians in the Russian Federation
Stas Namin
Church of St. Vardan Mamikonyan, Stavropol Territory
Church of St. Sarkis, Krasnoyarsk
After the collapse of the USSR, the number of Armenians, now in the Russian Federation, increased significantly, due to refugees from Azerbaijan, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenians, along with Russians, left the republics of Central Asia. From the former Armenian SSR itself, about 600-700 thousand Armenians were forced to move to Russia due to the Spitak earthquake, the war with Azerbaijan and the economic crisis caused by the blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. According to some reports, the number of Armenians in Russia may reach 3 million people. Armenians play an important role in public life Russia. For example, Armenians are represented in the government (Chilingarov, Bagdasarov, etc.), in show business (I. Allegrova, V. Dobrynin, B. Kirkorov, A. Russo, etc.), in science, art and all others areas of activity. On June 16, 2000, the Union of Armenians of Russia was established in Moscow. There are regional branches of the Union of Armenians of Russia in 63 republics, territories and regions of the Russian Federation. Regional branches of the SAR are actively working, new churches are being built and old ones are being restored throughout the country, khachkars are being erected, Sunday schools are opening and operating successfully, and cultural centers. Historical dates and national holidays are celebrated. Armenian newspapers and magazines are published.
The president of the SAR, A. A. Abrahamyan, and members of the organization’s board take an active part in the life of the regional branches of the SAR, promptly responding to problems arising in the regions.
In 1996-2011 Armenian was built in Moscow temple complex, which will become the residence of the Patriarchal Exarch (Head of the New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church) and one of the spiritual centers of the Armenians of Russia.
The temple is built strictly according to Armenian canons. The sculptural volumes of the temple are based on the traditions of classical Armenian architecture. The temple building is located on a stylobate, which is a traditional stone foundation characteristic of the church architecture of Armenia. The design of the main object of the temple ensemble is based on the type of classical Christian building of Armenia.
The volumetric-spatial design of the interior of the temple is as close as possible to a circle framed by seven apses. At around +11.00 there is a tier-balcony for the choir, a gallery and service rooms. The drum of the temple rests on 8 pylons. The tent is designed in the form of folds from individual triangular edges. The stylobate is designed on two levels.
The facades of the temple and residence are finished with Armenian ocher-orange tuff. The paving of the stylobate is made of granite paving stones and granite slabs. The parapets and retaining walls are also lined with tuff of various shades, and the floors are marble and granite. Stone carvings are used as decoration in the exterior and interior decoration of the temple.
The height of the cathedral without the cross will be 50 meters, the length and width will be 40 and 35 meters, respectively, and the diameter of the dome will be 21 meters. The temple will be designed for 1000 parishioners. Its area will be 25.1 thousand square meters. An underground parking lot for 160 cars will be built under it.
In 1992, the largest insurance company in Russia, Rosgosstrakh, was founded.
In 2007-2008, the following were purchased from IFD Kapital Insurance companies(“Kapital Insurance”, “Kapital Reinsurance”, “Kapital Health insurance", "Kapital Life Insurance"). They continue to do business under the Capital brand.
On January 1, 2010, on the basis of the territorial divisions of ten insurance companies of the Rosgosstrakh Group, a single federal company Rosgosstrakh LLC. It became the legal successor of all rights and obligations of the former regional and interregional companies of the Rosgosstrakh Group to their clients and partners. As part of the merger, the entire regional branch network was transferred to Rosgosstrakh LLC.
In September 2010, the state sold the remaining 13.1% of the company’s shares (at the same time, the “golden share” retained by the state lost its validity).
Rosgosstrakh office in Vologda
Despite its name, Rosgosstrakh OJSC is private company. 100% of the company belongs to its president Danil Khachaturov with partners represented by CJSC IC Troika Dialog.
Danil Khachaturov is also president OOO"Rosgosstrakh".
In 2006, by decree of President Putin, the United Aircraft Corporation was created, whose president was Mikhail Pogosyan. JSC UAC has set a goal to maintain Russia's role as the world's third largest aircraft manufacturer, increasing over 10 years the total revenue of the enterprises that will be part of the company from $2.5 billion to $7-8 billion. At the beginning of the summer of 2008, the United Aircraft Corporation owned 100% of the shares of AHC Sukhoi, 86% of MAK Ilyushin, 90.8% of OJSC Tupolev, 38.2% of NPK Irkut and a number of other aviation enterprises.
In January 2009, UAC, after transferring another part of the shares to the authorized capital, controls 49.64% of IFC, 86.69% of FLC.
In April 2010, UAC and the Ukrainian state-owned company Antonov agreed to create a company coordinating the joint production of An-124 aircraft, production of An-148, An-70 and An-140 aircraft. It is also assumed that UAC will gain control of Antonov in exchange for a stake in UAC.
In 1991, the Association of Russian Banks was established, whose president was Garegin Ashotovich Tasunyan. The association is an associate member of the European Union Banking Federation, which unites about 3,000 banks in Europe.
The Association is the founder or co-founder of the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, the National Association of Mortgage Market Participants, the National Bureau of Credit Histories, and the Moscow Clearing Center.
In 1995, the Russian film company Central Partnership was created, whose owners are Ruben Dishdishyan. Engaged in the distribution and production of television and film films. It includes the Central Partnership studio and the distributor of film and television rights, Central Partnership Sales House. The company owns a large library of rights, including over 1,400 feature films and 4,000 hours of serial production. Since January 2009, the official distributor of Paramount Pictures International productions in Russia and the CIS countries (except Ukraine). In 2010, the company was one of eight studios that will receive government support in 2010-2011 for the production of films from Federal Fund social and economic support for domestic cinematography. In just 5 years of operation of this company, from 2005 to 2010, its income amounted to over $600 million.
Armenians in the Cossacks
Armenian Cossacks, reserve troops of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia According to the dean of the history department of Moscow State University, academician S.P. Karpov, the first written evidence about the Armenians who were part of the mercenary detachments of horsemen (then called “Cossacks” by the Genoese and Venetians) dates back to the 14th century and was recorded in archives of Venice and Genoa. So, according to these archives, the Armenians were part of the hired military force (cavalry) that protected Tana and other Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region from raids. In addition to the Armenians, these units included people of different nationalities. Today in Russia and Armenia, there is a Council of Atamans of Armenian-Cossack organizations, which are united in the international Armenian-Cossack Association (IACO). According to the ataman, lieutenant general of the Cossack troops Karapet Zatoyan, today, on the territory of Armenia alone, about 5 thousand Armenian Cossacks are registered. All of them are enrolled in the reserve forces of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, have completed military service and are either officers or military personnel of the Armed Forces of Armenia.
Regions of residence
The largest Armenian communities live mainly in cities in the North Caucasus, in Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg, as well as in the Volga region, in particular (2002):
Armenian National District
From 1925 to 1953 On the territory of the Krasnodar Territory (in 1925-1934 - the North Caucasus, in 1934-1937 the Azov-Black Sea Territory), populated mainly by Armenians, there was an Armenian National Region.
The village of Elisavetpolskoye was designated as the center of the district. The area was part of the Maykop Okrug. After the liquidation of the district division in 1930, the district came under direct subordination to the regional authorities.
At the end of the 1930s, the term “national region” ceased to be used, and the region was simply called Armenian.
Businessman Tarasov, Artyom Mikhailovich, Circassian
Major General Andranik Ozanyan
Singer Irina Allegrova, Don Armenian
Artist Martiros Sergeevich Saryan, Don Armenian
Writer Petronius Gai Amatuni, Don Armenian
Actor Georgy Tusuzov, Don Armenian
Poet Rafael Gabrielovich Patkanyan, Don Armenian
Hero of Russia, Tashchiev Suren Ambartsumovich, Don Armenian
Ethnic groups - Circassian, Hamshen and Don Armenians
They began to penetrate here in the 10th century from the Crimea, and by the 12th century they already had a significant colony on the Taman Peninsula. In the city, when the Turks finally captured Crimea and began to exterminate the civilian population, Armenians began to actively emigrate, while some of them found refuge in the Caucasus among the Circassians and Abkhazians, at that time still Christians or pagans. The Armenian settlers, having lived in the mountains for 300 years, adopted the language, morals, customs, features of life, and the entire way of life of the Circassians, among whom they settled, but retained their ethnic identity and Christian faith - Armenian-Gregorian, close to Russian Orthodoxy. As a result of the interpenetration of two cultures, a new ethnic group of Circassians - Mountain Armenians (Circassogai) - was formed.
- Hamshenians- a subethnic group of Armenians living on the Black Sea coast.
The Hamshen subethnic group was formed in the 6th century, on the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor, on the basis of the local Armenian population and the 12 thousandth army (with their families) of Prince Shapukhr, from the Amatuni clan and his son Hamam, who joined it. In - centuries they had their own semi-independent principality on the shores of the Black Sea, to the east modern city Trabzon. In the 15th century, as a result of a long war with the Ottomans, the Hamshen principality was destroyed and included in the Ottoman Empire, and its prince and army were exterminated. Then there was a long process of forced Islamization, as a result of which some of the Hamshens who converted to Islam formed into a separate group, the Hemshils, who still live in the region of the historical region of Hamshen, on the territory modern Turkey. The rest, who did not want to convert to Islam, were subjected to long persecution, which attracted their mass exodus starting from the 18th century, to the territory of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in the area of modern Krasnodar Territory and Abkhazia. Today, the Hamshenians live compactly along the entire Black Sea coast from Anapa to Sukhum; the places of the most compact settlement of the Hamshenians are Sukhumi, Gagra, Gadauta, Adler, Sochi, Lazarevskoye, Tuapse, Gelendzhik, Novorossiysk, Anapa, Apsheronsk. In a number of the above-mentioned areas, Hamshens make up the majority of the population.
- Don Armenians- the names “Ani Armenians” or “Crimean-Ani Armenians” are also used, a subethnic group of Armenians formed on the territory of Crimea in the 11th-13th centuries, based on the local Armenian population (from the 1st-5th centuries) and those who joined them in the 11th-19th centuries. XIII centuries, Armenians who came from the Ani kingdom.
Armenians settled in Crimea in the 1st-5th centuries, then their numbers constantly grew, especially in the 11th century. These were refugees from the Ani kingdom. Another half century later, another large group of refugees from Ani, who had previously lived in Cilicia, moved to Crimea. Cilicia is an ancient Armenian state on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, which was founded by Armenians towards the end of the 11th century and existed for about 300 years (1080-1375). In 1375, the Egyptian Sultan Melik el-Ashref-Shaban destroyed this state. The Genoese first appeared in Crimea in 1281 under the Crimean Khan Oran-Timur. On the territory purchased from the khan, they set up a trading post and developed the coastal regions of Crimea. Crimean Tatars were located mainly in the steppe part of the peninsula. Thanks to the large influx of Italians from the Genoese Republic, this trading post quickly grew and in the 13th-14th centuries became a large trading center under the name Kafa (present-day Feodosia). The kafa was well fortified, protected by a wide ditch and surrounded by a rampart. The city and all Genoese settlements were governed by their own consul, who was under the authority of Genoa. The Genoese were the actual masters of the entire “seaside part of the peninsula with the cities: Kafa, Soldaya (Sudak), Gezlov (Evpatoria), Surkhat and others, paying the khan only a duty on imported and exported goods.
The Armenians were warmly received by the Genoese, they enjoyed all the rights that they had, and even had special privileges. The Armenians and Genoese lived quite amicably and, if necessary, defended themselves hand in hand from external enemies. On the initiative and at the expense of the Armenians, defensive structures were built and weapons were purchased. This generally serene life among the Armenians continued until 1475, when Turkish Sultan Magamet II equipped a fleet and ordered to completely ruin and destroy Kafa. The siege of the city began. The Genoese and Armenians defended themselves steadfastly and courageously, but Turkish artillery smashed the thick walls of the fortress. Some of the inhabitants were destroyed, others fled to the mountains, many found salvation in Tatar villages. Most of the Genoese fled and left Crimea. The propertied part of the Armenians and other Christians also left the peninsula. They found refuge in Poland, Moldova, Wallachia and other countries. Crimea became a subject territory of the Ottoman Empire. It was ruled by a khan, who was appointed by the Turkish Sultan. Those Armenians who were able to survive were soon able to restore their economic influence on the peninsula. They, together with the Greeks, by that time constituted a significant part of the urban population in Crimea. The Greeks were also one of the aboriginal peoples of Crimea.
Peter I constantly thought about expanding Russia's borders to the south, about access to the sea. In 1637, the Cossacks took Azov, but in 1643, at the request of the Russian government, the fortress city was returned to the Turks. In 1696, Peter I took possession of Azov, and in 1698 he began to build the city of Taganrog.
In 1711, Russia was forced to abandon its conquests in the Azov region and return Azov along with Taganrog to the Turks. But in 1739 the lost lands were again returned to Russia. Under the terms of the Belgrade Peace Treaty, concluded with Turkey in 1739, Russia could not have fortifications in Azov and Taganrog. That's why Russian government In order to more reliably protect its southern border, it won the right to build a new fortress in the lower reaches of the Don, between Cherkassk and Azov. As we see, Russia, with great difficulty and at the cost of incredible efforts, made its way to the Black Sea.
In 1774, as a result of the war with Turkey, the Russian government concluded the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace Treaty, according to which the Tatar Khanate in Crimea was recognized as independent from Turkey. Russia is increasing its influence in Crimea and is seriously beginning to lay claim to becoming a powerful maritime power. In particular, control the Black Sea. In order to strengthen its influence in Crimea, the Russian government elevated its protege Shagin-Girey, an educated and erudite man for that time, to the khan’s throne. In order to put the Khan, his officials and the Murzas in an even more dependent position on Russia, the government of Catherine II decided to economically weaken the Khanate by evicting Greeks and Armenians from Crimea, since the taxes they paid constituted the main source of income for the Khan; they held almost all trade in their hands , agriculture and crafts of the peninsula. Another important reason that prompted the Russian government to organize the resettlement of Armenians and Greeks was the desire to quickly begin the colonization of the then deserted Novorossiysk region. Agents of the tsarist government began to conduct secret negotiations with the Armenian and Greek clergy, as well as with authoritative representatives of these peoples. Many Armenian merchants in their trade affairs had business connections with the settlements of Southern Russia and, of course, were not averse to moving to new lands and expanding their commercial activities here, especially in a Christian environment. After all, the Armenians were terribly afraid that the Turkish Sultan would oust the Russians from Crimea. Rumors about the resettlement of the Christian population of Crimea reached the khan and his murzas. Khan was furious. He demanded clarification from the Russian government, personally from A.V. Suvorov. Official responses stated that this action was being carried out at the request of the Christian population of Crimea, out of love for humanity and duty, and, of course, Russia is ready to accept its fellow believers. The Tatars were very excited. According to their confession, they lost Christians “like a soul from a body.”
The attitude towards Christians deteriorated so much that the Greek metropolitan left Bakhchisarai for the Russian camp, and the Armenian archimandrite considered it best to hide in a cafe with his flock. But generous gifts and tempting promises of the Russian government had an effect on the khan and his murzas. They made concessions. The matter assumed great proportions and moved from dead center. The commander of the Russian troops in Crimea, Prince Prozorovsky, who did not agree with the resettlement policy, like Feld Marshal Rumyantsev, was replaced in April 1778 by the decisive and energetic General A.V. Suvorov. Catherine II ordered Suvorov to speed up the matter. Suvorov organizes and commands the resettlement of the Christian population of Crimea.
Armenians, one, even earlier lived on the territory of the lower reaches of the Don. Thus, Armenian merchants settled at one time in the Golden Horde Azat (Azov) in the 14th-15th centuries. Even earlier, Armenian trading posts existed within the framework of the Khazar Koganate of the 9th-10th centuries. But the mass resettlement of Armenians to the Don took place only in the 18th century. After a year and a half of resettlement, associated with great difficulties, the Armenians received the right to permanent residence. At the mouth of the Don, on imperial territory, and not on Cossack territory, from the east of the fortress of Dmitry of Rostov, where his outpost of Poludenka was located, the Armenian city of Nakhichevan with its villages was founded, named by analogy with Nakhichevan in Transcaucasia and the Armenian city of the same name that once existed in the Crimea. The name Nakhnchevan should be understood not as the first stop (which is obtained with a literal translation), but as the first (dominant) among the surrounding settlements. It corresponded to the functional role of the city as a settlement of the Armenian colony on the Don, which also included five villages located under the protection of Russian fortresses and defensive structures.
The Empress granted the Armenians 86 thousand hectares of land “for eternal use” (as written in the decree). The Armenians founded the city of Nakhichevan and 5 villages in its district in a new place: Chaltyr, Crimea, Sultan-Saly, Bolshie Saly and Nesvetay. The city of Nakhichevan was renamed Nakhichevan-on-Don in 1838. The city was located on the territory of modern Rostov-on-Don, occupied the entire territory of the modern Proletarsky district, also included Kamenka, part of the current Pervomaisky district and Surb Khach in Myasnikovani (Northern district). Just 5 years after its founding, in 1783, a printing house was opened, 7 churches and residential areas were built, consisting mainly of two-story mansion-type houses, in accordance with the common European architectural styles of the time, using traditional Armenian architectural elements. By the beginning of the 19th century, Nakhichevan-on-Don became a craft, industrial and commercial center. There were a theological seminary, women's and men's gymnasiums, vocational and commercial schools. In 1900, a new theater building was built. In total, in 1819 there were 9 charitable and educational institutions operating in the city. In the Armenian villages near the city, arable farming and cattle breeding developed. The city continued to be built up with workshops and public buildings located on straight and wide streets. In addition to 7 Armenian churches and 1 Russian church inside the city itself, 5 more Armenian churches were built in its district. The Armenians enjoyed the rights of autonomy, having their own government, legislation, based on the law of Mkhitar Gosh. Throughout the territory allocated to the Armenians, the Armenian language had official status; lawsuits and decisions were filed in it, newspapers were published, education was taught in schools, and plays were staged in theaters. Don Armenians also enjoyed special benefits; at first they were exempt from taxes and military service.
It must be said that a special role in the life of the Armenian colony on the Don was played by Ivan Lazarevich Lazarev (Hovhannes Lazaryan), a major Russian statesman (1735-1801), who made a lot of efforts to develop and strengthen friendly relations between the Armenian and Russian peoples. He was one of the seven major entrepreneurs and millionaires in Russia, and made a lot of efforts to create an institute of oriental languages (Lazarev Institute).
In November 1780, their new spiritual head, Archbishop Prince Joseph of Argutinsky, the official successor of the Archimandrite of the Crimean Armenians Petros Markosyan, who died during the resettlement, came to the settlers from St. Petersburg. The Don Armenians have their own new spiritual leader. “Following the founding of the city and surrounding villages, an Armenian magistrate was established in Nakhichevan, that is, a judicial-administrative institution in which the internal administration of the city and villages was concentrated;
The magistrate managed all affairs in the colony. The magistrate had the position of mayor. The Nakhichevan magistrate was divided into two departments - Armenian and general. The Armenian department was in charge of all cases, with the exception of criminal cases, which were transferred to the general department and considered in accordance with the national laws then in force. It is interesting that court cases were examined and considered on the basis of customary law, on the one hand, and on the other, on the basis of a collection of written laws by Mkhitar Gosh, a learned monk who died in 1213. This Armenian code of law was adapted to the laws of Emperor Justinian.
In the villages, power belonged to the clergy and elected elders, who were subordinate to the magistrate. The colony had its own coat of arms, approved in 1811, and a seal. The coat of arms depicted a shield divided into two halves obliquely. In the upper half, in a silver field, are depicted; golden bees, and in the lower half, in a green field, a golden hive. Founding of Nakhichevan as the first trade and craft city Russian Empire the end of the 18th century in the south of the country dictated the nature of the main occupations of its inhabitants. Apparently, according to its regime, the city was assigned to fortresses and outstadts, the population of which, in accordance with a special Senate decree of the end XVIII-early XIX V. farming was not only not recommended, but even prohibited. That is why this was the responsibility of the Armenian peasants of the surrounding villages, in which they were significantly successful. The grain they grew was exported both to the domestic market and to foreign countries, in particular, Parisian bread was no longer baked from Crimean, but from Nakhichevan flour. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, in connection with the move of residents of Armenian villages to Nakhichevan, the composition of the urban population changed. Many of the townspeople began to keep livestock and poultry, and the wealthy began to keep horses for personal carriages, which influenced the composition of buildings and the layout of urban estates.
The indigenous townspeople - the intelligentsia, traders and artisans - did not keep livestock. The obligatory occupation of the townspeople was trade and various crafts. Taking advantage of the benefits provided by Catherine II and local conditions, the merchants of Nakhichevan organized trade not only in their city, but also in Rostov-on-Don, in Central Russia, in Kuban and Terek, in Ekaterinodar (now Krasnodar), Stavropol, Taganrog and Azov, Yeisk and other places where buildings of trading posts were built for the purchase of local goods and the sale of grain, silk, wool, leather, lard and other products. Urban artisans were engaged in the production of silk, wool, leather and other goods. In 1825, according to the “Statistical Description of Cities and Posads of the Russian Empire” in Nakhichevan, the number of factories - vodka, fish, lard, leather, cotton and others reached 33. In Taganrog there were 26 of them, and in Rostov-on-Don only 12. From the 1860s, craft enterprises began to grow. Especially enterprises related to construction - brick, tile, lime, tile and others. Thanks to the development of trade and crafts, as well as urban improvement, Nakhichevan soon after its founding began to attract the attention of prominent Russian and European travelers and scientists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Such as K. de Bart, S. Pallas, N. Raevsky, I. Bezborodko, M. Bzhishkyan, A. Demidov,. Homer de Gelle and others. They noted not only the large population, the originality of the population’s way of life and way of life, its greater ability for trading activities than the residents of southern Russian cities, the good layout of the city and Armenian villages, but also the high artistic level of their buildings.