The scandal surrounding the Ministry of National Security was probably the most serious incident of the outgoing year. Dozens of businesses and businesspeople have been affected by the ministry's oppressive tactics of extortion. We're going to tell the story of one of the businessmen.


Ismayil Salimov graduated from a Moscow university and stayed in then the Soviet capital to start his own business. In the middle of the 1980s, he moved to Azerbaijan and got a job at the Prosecutor-General's Office. After a while, he quit the job and re-started his business in Baku. He set up a company, Mediaqraf, specializing in outdoor advertising.  


The business was going well. The company’s market value soon soared to $700,000. But problems started when Garay Yusifov, the Baku representative of the US-based McCann Erickson, and his patron at the Ministry of National Security, Akif Mustafayev, alias "Akula” (Shark) Akif, took an interest in the company. 


``This man (Garay Yusifov) started his job at McCann Erickson as a courier. He quickly became the head of the company's Baku office, using ugly methods,'' Ismayil Salimov says. In 2010, Garay Yusifov  invited Ismayil Salimov to a meeting in Baku’s Nakhchivan hotel, where Yusifov openly said he wanted to buy Mediaqraf. When Salimov charged him $700,000 for the company, Yusifzada rejected, saying the price was too high. 


``After I said ``no'', Asgarov, the head of the advertisement department at the Baku Mayor's Office, started causing serious troubles for me. He increased rentals for my company's advertisement boards. He even told me to demolish the boards, claiming that their location was causing security problems for President Ilham Aliyev. He then started demolishing the advertisement boards. I heard from several sources that Garay Yusifov was behind all of this,'' Salimov said. 


Things got even worse in June 2012. Asgarov, who’s still in charge of the advertisement department at the Baku Mayor's Office, terminated his office’s contract with Mediaqraf. Ismayil Salimov appealed to court. When a judge at the Economy Court No 1 told the sides to agree on a settlement without a trial, the lawyer of ``Baku law center'', Mehman Sultanov, unexpectedly said to Salimov: ``Why do you not want to sell the company? You were told to sell it.'' Salimov replied that he was ready to sell the company.


``When I left the meeting with the judge, I received a phone call from Garay Yusifov, who offered 350,000 manat for the company. Then we met at the office of ``Baku law center''. Apart from me and Garay Yusifov, the meeting was attended by Garay's uncle Novruz Aliyev. The head of the law center, Aydin Bagirov, and lawyer Mehman Sultanov were there too. Garay Yusifov said as he was working for McCann Erickson, he could not buy Mediaqraf. He proposed handing the company's ownership over to his uncle after the purchase agreement is finalized. 


Then Garay Yusifov's uncle, Novruz Aliyev, started threatening me and saying that he was friends with "Akula” Akif, an official of the Ministry of National Security. He said they would take over my company by force if I didn't agree to sell it at the price they offered. Aydin Bagirov said: `You know the people these people are working for. So, you have no option but to agree.' I finally agreed to sell the company to them for 350,000 manat. A day later, they asked for a further discount and I said no,'' Ismayil Salimov says.


After that, Novruz Aliyev, "Akula Akif” and Garay Yusifov started grabbing the company from Salimov. With the help of Asgarov, the head of the advertisement department, they removing Mediaqraf's advertisement boards from the streets, replacing them with advertisement boards owned by ``Art media servis'', which is run by Asgarov's wife Nazila Rustamov.




Salimov says he had sent letters to various government agencies, complaining about the illegal takeover of his company. Yet, all of the letters remained unanswered and were blocked by the gang’s powerful people at the Ministry of National Security.


 Salimov says Garay Yusifov is also plundering the US company he’s still working for. Yusifov established his own company to steal McCann's orders and contracts in Baku. This started happening after McCann's Baku office was subordinated to the company's Moscow office. The Baku office used to report to the Turkey office earlier.


The collapse of the oppressive machinery at the Ministry of National Security (which was abolished by President Aliyev) brought new hope to business people like Ismayil Salimov. The only thing Salimov wants now is to ensure that the members of the gang which took over his company are brought to account.


``These people took away what I had spent years to make. I am now suffering from diabetes. I have serious heart problems. "Akula” Akif has fled from Azerbaijan. Garay Yusifov, Novruz Aliyev and Asgarov are at large. They are still running the company they took over illegally. I call on the Prosecutor-General's Office to bring them to criminal responsibility. The ``Art media service'' company must be closed down. I want my business back,'' Salimov said. 


Ismayil Salimov says he has evidence to support each of his claims. He says the lack of independent judiciary in Azerbaijan prevents him from getting his business back.   
Repeated telephone calls and messages to McCann Erickson’s Baku office by ANN seeking comment remained unanswered. The US office of the company replied, saying: ``Our Baku office will provide you with information.'' Yet, we haven’t heard from Mr. Yusifov.


According to reliable sources in the market, SkyBridge, which has the advertisement rights at Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport, is also linked to Garay Yusifov. There are suspicions that Yusifov used illegal means to obtain the advertisement rights at the airport.

www.anews.az