{"id":128445,"date":"2022-09-30T18:14:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T17:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/?p=128445"},"modified":"2022-09-30T18:21:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T17:21:13","slug":"aram-karamanukyan-interview-virtus-pro-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/2022\/09\/aram-karamanukyan-interview-virtus-pro-ceo","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Meet Aram Karamanukyan, the mysterious new face of Virtus.pro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Virtus.pro
Image credit: Virtus.pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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A simple Tweet<\/a> on September 16th announced Aram Karamanukyan as the new CEO of, and investor in, Russian esports organisation Virtus.pro.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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The announcement caught the esports community by surprise, especially due to the low profile with which it was made: an unverifiable Tweet from a brand new Twitter account. His position was confirmed shortly after by a post<\/a> on the Virtus.pro website.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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Karamanukyan is a newcomer to the esports industry through and through. He claims to have previously worked in construction, hospitality and finance in Armenia, before getting in touch with competitive gaming. Encouraged by the advice of a friend and the wish to invest in a sector with high-growth potential, he started to study esports and decided to make his move into the industry.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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On a personal level, the new Virtus.pro CEO described himself as \u201ca man, Armenian, a businessman, an investor, [and] a father of a 10-year-old girl\u201d when asked to introduce himself.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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The low-profile announcement is in tune with his style, he told Esports Insider. \u201cI\u2019ve never been much of a public figure, which is why I didn\u2019t have an account on Twitter. But in esports, everyone\u2019s used to communicating on Twitter, so I created an account.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe, as I mentioned in my second post<\/a>, were planning a nice announcement, with a video, with my introduction and a welcoming speech. The media team insisted on it. But because of the current situation in Armenia, when we are in fact at war and my fellow citizens are dying, I refused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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The war Karamanukyan referenced is the ongoing conflict between South Caucasus nations Armenia and Azerbaijan, which broke out again in September 2022 after a cease-fire agreement mediated by Russia was quickly broken.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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