During an online conversation with Gazeta.ru the head of the Board of Directors of Troyka Dialogue company Ruben Vardanyan said it was ‘impossible’ that he would ever nominate his candidacy to become president of Armenia. “It is impossible. First, I am a citizen of the Russian Federation and have never been a citizen of Armenia. I don’t have an Armenian passport. Second, which is more important, I strongly believe that the president of Armenia should be someone who has worked and lived in Armenia for many years and understands the ongoing processes well. Third, I don’t think I have good qualities that would make me a good official either in Russia or Armenia,” he said. Concerning the project on establishing Dilijan international school in Armenia Ruben Vardanyan said, “The project we were going to implement was not connected with the law on Russian-speaking schools. The school would teach the classes not in Russian but in English. Furthermore, I believe it is very important to keep the Armenian language in Armenia and a lot of resources must be invested in that work. It is the duty of any authority to take care of their national language. Meanwhile, by protecting and learning our own language we must understand that we should also make sure that the future generations can communicate with each other and speak several languages, including Russian. Russia is one of the key markets for Armenia. From this prospective it is very important to keep the advantages we have had during the past 90 years, including the good knowledge in languages”.
