Anar Aliyev - Azerbaijan's first legal millionaire? - INTERVIEW

"Position of Global Witness is still unclear for me".  I'm 36 years old and I really come from Nakhchivan. I have no family ties with officials who are natives of the autonomous republic.

Somehow in Azerbaijan a stereotype has formed that a successful businessman must have family ties with officials. I was subjected to such baseless criticism that it's got some forces abroad willing to inflict damage to our state.

About this in an interview with Business Time said the main person involved in a scandal exposed by the Global Witness report on SOCAR, Anar Aliyev.

Azerbaijani media reported Anar Aliyev as relative of the SOCAR President, Rovnag Abdullayev.

According to him, he went into business as a teenager.

"When, after the collapse of the Soviet Union opened the border between Azerbaijan and Turkey , I started to import the Turkish clothing and food. I was able to start a business because of the money that was given to me by my parents. At the same time I began to actively deliver cars to Azerbaijan. Then, accumulating primary capital in the early 2000s, I moved to Baku. In the capital, I began to buy homes and land near the metro station Ganjlik. Within two years, real estate prices rose sharply in Baku, which brought me a huge profit.

Then I began to sell building materials and equipment. Soon my company started the construction of residential buildings in Baku. In 2002-2003, I started the company Aztrans. This company , with 17 cargo trucks, was engaged in the export of fruit to Russia," continued his narrative Anar Aliyev.

He also noted that he had begun to invest in computer equipment that he imported from Dubai.

"Together with my companions I started to deliver computers and other electronics to Azerbaijan. Then I founded the first Azerbaijani company in the UAE. In a very short time I managed to earn more profit. Soon the turn of oil came: I provided oil companies with pipes, equipment and different techniques. At that time, there was my company Grand MMC, which served the oil production," says the businessman.

According to him, his cooperation with SOCAR started in 2003-2004.

"As SOCAR is a leading company of the country, it is impossible to avoid cooperation with it. Already in 2003-2004 Grand MMC supplied X-ray equipment to SOCAR to check the pipes. For many years I have been providing various services to SOCAR, delivering its equipment, tools , etc. , as well as carrying out construction work. The successful partnership with the State Oil Company allowed me to become its trusted contractor. Because of this and support from the Government to local entrepreneurs, my companies managed to be represented in some (I again say some) projects of SOCAR," said Anar Aliyev.

According to him, the proposal to create a company SOCAR Trading SA was made by him and the known oil trader Valery Golovushkin.

"Then SOCAR exported its oil to world markets through foreign companies. This led to a variety of mechanisms for political pressure on our country. Based on this, we proposed to create a new trading company in Switzerland. SOCAR then had no experience in creating such companies abroad, and therefore its leadership supported our idea. Thus the company SOCAR Trading SA was established. After that, the price of Azerbaijani oil in the world increased and it turned into a kind of brand of the country.

Our proposal served the development of the economy of Azerbaijan. Under the agreement, the first years of the company's activities were sponsored by us. After five years, we had to completely sell our shares to SOCAR.

I spent large sums of money on this company's development. The figures given by Global Witness do not fully reflect reality. For example, in 2008 in the midst of the economic crisis, I had to invest large sums in this company to save it from bankruptcy," said the businessman.

Anar Aliyev noted once again that he does not consider it crime that he is a successful Azerbaijani businessman, who participates in international projects of SOCAR.

"The position of Global Witness is still unclear for me. But I can guess who is the customer of this report," said Anar Aliyev.

Responding to accusations that the information about his business empire is secret, Anar Aliyev said that all the information contained in this report is taken from public sources and the Internet.

"I think that the main reason for my success is that I do not appear much in the media and the public does not know me. Therefore I have more time to work. But, as it turned out, being young, successful and rich, and besides, being an Azeri, creates the fraught of gaining a negative image. Therefore, I decided to open myself to the society, but I hesitated because after that my family and I would be deprived of the opportunity to live a quiet and peaceful life. But now I have to declare. And since I have nothing to hide, I agreed to this interview," said Anar Aliyev.

Anar Aliyev reiterated that his entrepreneurial activity is fair and lawful.

"All these companies belong to me personally, and I pay my taxes. Only in 2013 , through the work of my companies abroad I paid to Azerbaijan's budget tens of millions of manats," he stressed.

He also did not rule out that he could sue the organization Global Witness for insulting his honor and dignity.

Anar Aliyev denied some media reports that he is hiding abroad, and noted that all the time he lives in Baku with his family.

According to him, most of his capital is invested in Azerbaijan.

"I'm strongly connected with Azerbaijan. Here I have a lot of projects, involving thousands of people. One of the projects, in which I participate in Azerbaijan, is the White City. I build an office building there. My other project is the construction of a tube-rolling mill. At this plant equipped with German equipment there will be a large number of employees. Unfortunately, I can not speak about all the projects, because it is a trade secret. But I promise that after this I will inform the public about my activities," concluded Anar Aliyev.

ANN.Az