{"id":188957,"date":"2018-03-04T10:07:19","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T10:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/the-extraordinary-businessman-kamaladdin-heydarov\/"},"modified":"2018-03-04T10:07:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T10:07:19","slug":"the-extraordinary-businessman-kamaladdin-heydarov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/the-extraordinary-businessman-kamaladdin-heydarov\/","title":{"rendered":"The extraordinary businessman Kamaladdin Heydarov"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n No Azerbaijani has ever made it onto Forbes\u2019 list of the world\u2019s richest people, but it\u2019s no secret that some high-placed officials are quite wealthy and control ever-expanding businesses and assets. One of those people is Kamaladdin Heydarov, the Minister of Emergencies (
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\n literally \u201cextraordinary situations\u201d in Azerbaijani – ed.
\n <\/i>
\n ).\n<\/p>\n

\n In 2010, American diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks revealed that US embassy officials
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\n ranked
\n <\/a>
\n the Heydarovs as \u201cthe second most powerful commercial family in Azerbaijan\u201d after the first lady\u2019s family, the Pashayevs. According to the leaked cables, Kamaladdin Heydarov amassed his massive wealth from \u201cillicit payments\u201d he received as chairman of the State Customs Committee (SCC), which is thought to be one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.\n<\/p>\n

\n But Heydarov was a businessman long before he was appointed to the SCC in 1995. The future minister founded Gilan Holding\u00a0which, according to the
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\n official site
\n <\/a>
\n , has been operating since 1987 and is now the country’s largest group of companies. Only the Pashayev family\u2019s Pasha Holding can compare in terms of the diversity of its activities, turnover, and estimated assets.\n<\/p>\n

\n By 2016, Gilan Holding was involved in: industrial and consumer sales and retail trade, tourism and hotels, transport and logistics, construction and real estate management, the production of construction materials, and food and agricultural produce. The massive holding company continues to add to its portfolio: according to domestic media, Gilan registers several new companies each month.\n<\/p>\n

\n Although the holding owns a bank, it also uses cheap financial resources generously provided by the government. Gilan\u2019s bread factory in Baku, ceramic factory in Hajigabul, textile factories in Sumgayit, agricultural complex in Gabala District and numerous other factories were established with tens of thousands of manats in long-term loans issued by the government.\n<\/p>\n

\n Very few of Heydarov\u2019s companies have released information about their finances, but here is some publicly available data about some investments that have been made in this business empire:\n<\/p>\n