Russia's Supreme Court has prohibited the transfer of funds to Digimarket, a U.S.$35 million offshore company linked to Ruben Vardanyan, as legal proceedings continue over efforts to recover more than U.S.$64 million from a loan company.
The ruling concerns Digimarket, which financed the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel project in Moscow. The company was transferred to Russia's special offshore zone in Kaliningrad in spring 2026.
On 24 July, ownership of Digimarket was transferred to Vardanyan's wife, Veronika Zonabend.
The court's decision has renewed attention on Vardanyan's long-standing links to offshore financial networks dating back to Troika Dialog, the investment bank he founded.
International investigations into the bank alleged that a network of offshore companies used proxy owners to conceal the identities of their beneficiaries while moving billions of dollars out of Russia. The network was also alleged to have been used to launder criminal proceeds and disguise their origin.
According to those investigations, Vardanyan and members of his family received money through the network.
Reports said more than U.S.$3.2 million was used to pay bills on Vardanyan's American Express card, while additional funds were transferred to accounts belonging to his wife and family and used to pay school fees for his three children in the United Kingdom.
Vardanyan denied direct involvement, saying the offshore companies established by Troika Dialog served both his own businesses and the bank's clients.
Questions over Vardanyan's business activities later extended to the Swiss-based mining and metallurgy company Solway Investment Group.
In 2022, Vardanyan renounced his Russian citizenship and relocated to Garabagh, where he became state minister of the self-proclaimed and internationally unrecognised "Nagorno-Garabagh Republic".
According to Azerbaijan's State Security Service, Vardanyan helped finance and support the activities of illegal armed groups operating in the region.
He was later tried in Baku, where the Military Court sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
The court convicted him under multiple articles of Azerbaijan's Criminal Code, including crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, and the financing of terrorism.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić resigned on Sunday, ending his second and final five-year term and paving the way for an early presidential election as the country prepares for a snap parliamentary vote on 25 October.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German role in developing supply chains and higher-value production.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power unit in Armenia as Yerevan weighs competing international offers, its head Alexey Likhachev said on Tuesday.
Freight on the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway could soon move faster across borders after Georgia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye signed a new customs protocol aimed at cutting delays and streamlining transit.
Afghanistan and Belarus have agreed to expand health cooperation, with a focus on medicines, medical equipment and training healthcare workers, following talks between the two countries’ health ministers in Minsk on Tuesday (29 September).
Saudi Arabia is facing a widening security challenge from Yemen as Houthi forces consolidate recent territorial gains along the Red Sea coast and step up attacks on the kingdom.
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