Ruben Vardanyan, who created the Atom electric car, was jailed for 20 years

A court in Baku sentenced Vardanyan as the ex-minister of state of the former unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He was accused, in particular, of violently seizing power and changing the constitutional order. Businessman Ruben Vardanyan is known as the founder of the investment company Troika Dialogue and co-founder of the Atom startup for the production of electric vehicles in Russia. He also headed the Skolkovo School of Management for some time.

In September 2022, the billionaire decided to renounce Russian citizenship and move to Karabakh. The application to renounce Russian citizenship was granted in December of the same year. Ruben Vardanyan was appointed Minister of State of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in November 2022, and was removed from this position in February 2023. After Azerbaijan carried out a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Vardanyan was detained by Azerbaijani border guards.

A well-known entrepreneur and former investment banker participated in Russian automotive projects for several years, but by the end of 2025 he completely left this business. Vardanyan’s last and main automobile project in Russia was the Atom electric car.

Functional prototype of “Atom”
Atom

In 2021, Vardanyan was one of the first investors in the Kama company, which began creating this machine. At the initial stage, Vardanyan and KamAZ CEO Sergei Kogogin invested 360 million rubles in the project. In October 2025, Vardanyan’s share in the project was transferred to the company itself, which marked his complete exit from this business.

Earlier it became known when the Atom electric car will go on sale. Also after the presentation, journalists named the disadvantages of this car.