"THE BRIDGE MUST BE RELIABLE"
Today's Krasnodar Krai is a complex and beautiful mosaic of more than 160 peoples. In this palette, the Armenian community, numbering over half a million people, acts not just as a large ethnic group, but as one of the most active creative forces.
TODAY OUR STORY IS ABOUT KAMO DIKRANOVICH AYRAPETYAN. He has not only headed the regional branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia for five years, but has also been a deputy of the Armavir City Duma for four consecutive terms, and is a member of the Governor's Council on Interethnic Relations. As a council member, he focuses on personal contacts and joint projects between communities.
"Armenians in Kuban are not guests on this land," says Kamo Dikranovich. "We are part of it. Being Armenian in Russia is a pride, but it is also a daily responsibility for how you are perceived by others. We are a bridge between Russia and Armenia, and this bridge must be reliable."
Kamo Ayrapetyan's life path is often called a classic embodiment of the self-made man concept. A native of Kirovabad, he absorbed the spirit of multinational good neighborliness from childhood, which became the foundation of his worldview. Moving to Armavir in the early 1980s, he started his career as a simple worker, eventually creating industrial giants such as "Metropolis" and "Apollinaria." This experience of working "at the machine" shaped his main life principle: loyalty to one's word and responsibility to people.
"In business, as in politics, the main thing is the ability to keep one's word," believes K. Ayrapetyan. "If a person comes for help, he does not need slogans from reports; he needs a solution to the problem."
With the start of the Special Military Operation, the civic position of the Armenian community of Kuban manifested in unprecedented scales of humanitarian activity. Under Ayrapetyan's leadership, a Board of Trustees was created, and the volume of aid to the front exceeded one billion rubles. These are not numbers for reports, but real cargoes: thousands of tons of food, equipment, vehicles, medicines, and optics. Kamo Dikranovich personally accompanied convoys to new regions, emphasizing that there is no division by nationality in the trenches — there are all defenders of the Motherland.
The regional branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia pays great attention to preserving historical truth. The organization has installed dozens of memorials throughout the South of Russia — from Kerch to Bryukhovetsky District. For Ayrapetyan, the memory of the Great Patriotic War is sacred: his grandfathers fought for the liberation of Kuban and Crimea.
THE SPIRITUAL CORE OF THE COMMUNITY REMAINS THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH. This year, the construction of the Cathedral of Surb Mariam Astvatsatsin in Krasnodar is planned to be completed, which will become a symbol of unity and moral support. At the same time, faith for Kamo Dikranovich is inseparable from actions: "If a person goes to church but sows enmity, he has not understood the essence of faith."
Addressing young people, he urges them to use "dual identity" as an advantage. To be a modern Russian, without losing Armenian roots, is the path to creating an intellectually and spiritually strong personality.
For Kamo Ayrapetyan, his activities at the head of the Kuban regional branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia of Kuban is a daily work to maintain balance, strengthen ties between Russia and Armenia, peace and mutual understanding in one of the most multinational regions of the country. His position is simple: respect cannot be bought or imposed — it can only be earned through honest work and loyalty to one's word.
Victor Konoplev
