Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born private equity investor based in Chicago, has been appointed chairman of a new U.S. State Department enterprise fund.

Axar.az reports, citing The Guardian, that the fund will oversee more than $200 million allocated to develop a Central Asia trade corridor, including investments in transportation, energy infrastructure and critical minerals.

The Tripp+ enterprise fund, where Sokolov serves as founder and chair, takes its name from the Trump route for international peace and prosperity, a 27-mile trade corridor spanning southern Armenia and Azerbaijan. A state department spokesperson said the $201m fund is authorized to make loans, equity investments and grants promoting strategic private sector development in the south Caucasus and central Asia, including in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Vice-President JD Vance, during a visit to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, in February, described the Tripp+ fund as part of a “historic transformation” that would “open up a whole new world of trade, transit and energy flows” .

When Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and the Armenian foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, signed the Tripp economic and security agreement in late May, Mirzoyan told the press they were “laying groundwork for the sort of economic engagement that allows Armenians to make money and find prosperity and Americans to do the same”.

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