AZERI ENCLAVE IN CZECH REPUBLIC
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THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012 12:46
Karlovy Vary
By Pavla Holcova, Khadija Ismayilova and Jaromir Hason
At Heydar Aliyev Airport in Baku, you can always count on the business
class checkin line at the Azerbaijan Airlines Prague flight being
just as long as the one for economy class.
Thatâ~@~Ys because Azerbaijan’s ruling clique have made the Czech
Republic a favored destination in recent years.
They have come not just as high-end tourists to see its rich historical
sites and natural beauty â~@~S but as investors as well.
Officials of oil-rich Azerbaijan, including members of the Aliyev
ruling family, have established companies in Prague, bought land,
and built hotels and luxury villas most of them focused around in
the famous spa city of Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad).
The problem is that some of these investments are illegal.
The full extent of their investment became clear after reporters for
the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) examined
the Czech property and company records of prominent Azeris. The
political elite, it appears, has been playing a real life game
of Monopoly in a race to acquire properties in the heart of the
European Union.
There is a historic precedent to the Azeriâ~@~Ys love of Karlovy Vary,
famous for its natural springs, resorts, and high-quality glass. The
picturesque town close to the German border in the western part of
the Czech Republic has been an exclusive hideaway for the Russian
ruling clique since 1711 when Czar Peter the Great came for treatment
in its healing waters. Powerful and wealthy Russians continue to
rest and mend amidst its expensive golf courses and spectacular spa
colonnades. Most services, especially the high end ones, are offered
in the Russian language. The local Czech hockey team at one point
considered joining Russiaâ~@~Ys national hockey league, and for most
Czechs, Karlovy Vary signifies close and friendly ties with Russia.
A Family Affair
â~@~Azeris know Karlovy Vary well,â~@~] said Jan Hornik, a Czech
Senator.
â~@~Their [Azeri] Prime Minister told me once his trips to the
town were more business than leisure because he met half the Azeri
government there.â~@~]
The connections start with the first family. Arzu Aliyeva, one
of Azeri President Ilham Aliyevâ~@~Ys two daughters has been the
sole shareholder of a central Prague-based company called ZODIAC
Immobilienbesitz since 2006.
A listing in the Czech land registry shows that the firm owns a â~B¬1
million villa in a luxury neighborhood in Karlovy Vary.
The Azeri presidentâ~@~Ys daughter owns a luxury villa in the spa
town of Karlovy Vary
When reporters visited the hilly and posh residential neighborhood, the
villa looked well cared for, but empty. No one answered the doorbell.
The headquarters of Aliyeva’s company are inside the Prague law offices
of Alfery-Hrdina, a firm that does audit, tax and legal services
according to a flyer. Pavel Alfery-Hrdina, a firm’s representative,
refused to talk about Aliyeva’s company or any clientâ~@~Ys business.
Arzu Aliyeva is not the only family member with ownership of Czech
businesses either. Her maternal grandfather, Arif Pashayev, owns
another Prague and Karlovy Vary-based company, RETRO-INTER. Pashayev
officially runs the National Aviation Academy. According to US
diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks, however, the extended
family plays important roles in the Azeri economy. The US cables list
the Pashayev family as the “single most powerful family in Azerbaijan”.
Pashayev controls PASHA Holding, an Azeri conglomerate involved in
insurance, banking, travel, construction and investment interests
including PASHA Bank, according to the companies website and an Ernst
and Young audit which lists him as the man with ultimate control. The
managing director is his nephew Mir Jamal Pashayev and the website
brags it is one of the largest new companies in Azerbaijan.
RETRO-INTER owns a number of properties in the Karlovy Vary area
including the newly erected Hotel Jeseter.
Jeseter belongs to a company controlled by Arif Pashayev, the father
of Azerbaijan’s first lady
Hotel Jeseter, which is finishing construction, sits on a bank facing
a dam 10 minutes from the town. A forest runs along one side and an
exclusive, gated Russian village on the other. The Russian deco style
building sits on the ruins of a former fishing house and plans call
for 30 rooms, a restaurant and two quays. The area used to be popular
with locals who came to relax and bathe, but after the only natural
swimming pool was demolished in ´90, the area lost its attractiveness
for family weekends. The hotel is controversial, with believers seeing
its opening as a chance to resuscitate the area, while skeptics worry
that its monumental and inappropriate design is out of place and its
high prices preclude ordinary Czechs from visiting.
RETRO – INTER also owns a building site, a house and an apartment in
the surrounding towns of JeniÅ¡ov, Mezirolà and DoubÃ.
The Businessman
While Arif Pashayev is the sole shareholder of RETROâ~@~SINTER,
its director is another Azeri-born Czech citizen, Fakhraddin
Mirzoev who lives in Karlovy Vary. In addition to RETROâ~@~SINTER,
he is director of Swiss-based TERMA TRAVEL GROUP. Although
they operate in Karlovy Vary, the company has a subsidiary in
Prague, GLOBAL-ACCOUNTING-SERVICES.COM which shared offices with
RETROâ~@~SINTER until a few months ago. Mirzoev is involved directly
or through the TERMA group in a half dozen other companies in the
Czech Republic.
Mirzoev appears to be a successful and connected man in Azeri circles
in the Czech Republic. He drives a Porsche, established a rally team
sponsored by the TERMA TRAVEL RACING TEAM and knows important people
like Hornik, according to his Facebook page.
“I know Mr. Mirzoev, because the Azeri ambassador is my friend and
when we had dealings, the representative of TERMA TRAVEL was often
present,â~@~] said Hornik.
OCCRP reporters contacted Mirzoev who did not comment but did say
“My business is not connected to any other persons.â~@~]
Mirzoev, who was an official agent of Azerbaijan Airlines, gave the
official welcome to the first Azerbaijan Airlines flight that landed
at the Prague airport in July of 2010.
The non-stop flight between the two capitals regularly shuttles other
major Azeri businessmen who have also chosen the Czech Republic.
A Cleric in Business
Other important Azeri investors in the area are Javanshir Pashazade,
a member of parliament in Baku and his brother, Allahshukur.
Allahshukur Pashazade is Sheikh-ul Islam, Grand Mufti of the Caucasus
and the chairman of the Religious Council of the Caucasus. He was
counted in 2009 among the 500 most influential Muslim figures in
the world.
According to registration records, the brothers own a Czech company
called Aynur KV that is also based in Karlovy Vary. The firm owns an
apartment complex in the center of Karlovy Vary.
Through his driver, Javanshir Pashazade denied any ownership of
Czech businesses.
Allahshukur Pashazade, the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus, owns an
apartment complex in the Czech Republic
Allahshukur Pashazade is a controversial figure in the Azeri media.
The government-friendly religious leader, who frequently pledges
Muslim loyalty to Ilham Aliyev, is known in Azerbaijan for his
connection to Ali Evsen, a Turkish businessman currently under
arrest in Spain for his alleged involvement in a money laundering
operation for Hussein Salem, a confidante of former Egyptian leader
Hosni Mubarak. Evsen’s businesses have been previously investigated
here by OCCRP . Pashazadeâ~@~Ys son is married to Evsenâ~@~Ys daughter.
Azer Rashidoghlu, chairman of the “Tolerant” Center for Social Studies
said the Grand Mufti should step down if the information is true.
“There were lots of talks about a lack of transparency in The Board
of Caucasus Muslims and the business activity of Sheikh-ul Islam. He
always denied his involvement in business. He denied, because he knew
that it is not appropriate. It is indeed not appropriate.â~@~]
Rashidoghlu said such ownership sets up a fundamental conflict of
interest.
â~@~If religious figure is dealing with business, especially in the
countries like Azerbaijan, he is risking facing a choice between his
business interests and the interests of Muslims.â~@~]
Rashidoghlu says that may have already happened. The Grand Mufti has
not defended Muslim rights against the President such as a ban on
hijab in schools and the shutdown of mosques, he said.
â~@~Instead, he always pledged support to president and his family
in order to be able to continue his business and to invest abroad.”
Javanshir Pashazadeâ~@~Ys ownership is illegal under Azeri law
according to one expert.
Brothers Javanshir and Allahshukur Pashazade, one a Parlamentarian and
the other the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus, own an apartment complex
in Karlovy Vary
â~@~Parliament members must not run businesses. It is prohibited
by law.
So if they own the business, they violate the law,â~@~] said Vasif
Movsumov, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a Baku
based civil society organization. â~@~The law restricts business
activity – no matter, if it is inside or outside the country – of
the parliament members.â~@~]
They are not the only ones. OCCRP previously reported that Arzu Aliyeva
along with her sister, Leyla and their mother Mehriban Aliyeva, own
a slew of Panama-based companies through which they secretly control
gold fields, a mobile phone company, a construction company and other
high stake investments back in Azerbaijan. Mehriban Aliyeva is also
a member of parliament. Calls and emails to the government seeking
comment were not returned.
â~@~They are supposed to submit declarations and declare that they
stopped their business activity. Since that was not the case, it is
a clear indication of corruption.â~@~] Movsumov said.
The apartment complex the Pashazades own through their firm is set in
the hills overseeing the center of Karlovy Vary and sits near one of
the most famous hotels in the region, the Hotel Imperial. This hotel,
built in the early 20th Century hosted many celebrities including
famous composers, dignitaries and Hollywood stars. The complex
is surrounded by narrow streets with old houses and the original
tessellated pavement.
The permitting and construction of the modern apartment complex
right in the middle of the historic center of Karlovy Vary was
controversial. The modern architecture contrasts with the unique and
picturesque surrounding buildings. The original building design was
a story higher, but was lowered in the face of local protests says a
local journalist, Jaroslav Dolina, who has followed the case for his
newspaper Karlovarsky Denik. The complex is still partially empty and
banners offering luxury apartments hang outside. Most of the names
on the doorbells appear to be Russian.
Other MPs in Business
Another member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Adil Aliyev and his
brother Allahverdi Aliyev, also do business in the Czech Republic.
Adil Aliyev is a shareholder in a company called West End Centre. This
company owns land in the western outskirts of Karlovy Vary. Allahverdi
Aliyevâ~@~Ys family started a company called RAN Ltd in 2003 at the
same Karlovy Vary address where two TERMA TRAVEL GROUP companies
were based.
A number of Azeri connected companies are located at a downtown
building in Karlovy Vary
Back in Azerbaijan, the brothers built their career in the police
forces under the leadership of a third older brother, Maharram
Aliyev, a former chief of the Baku police department and currently
the ambassador of Azerbaijan in Tajikistan. Adil Aliyev, who is also
president of the Kickboxing and Muai-Tai Federation, entered Parliament
in 2005 after leaving his job as a district police chief.
Allahverdi Aliyev, who used to also be a mid-level official in the
Ministry of Interior, shares ownership of his businesses, RAN Ltd.
together with his wife, Tamara and son, Ruslan Aliyev. The son,
according to an interview he gave to Azeri media, is the director
of the Ateshgah Insurance group, owned by the State Oil Company of
Azerbaijan. Adil Aliyev did not deny ownership of the businesses.
“I can’t say anything in this regard. I have lots of relatives in
Czech Republic and they have many companies in Czech Republic. That
is not a secret”.
He said he is aware of the legislation that prohibits Members of
Parliament to run businesses but refused to comment further on
the issue.
Their RAN Ltd owns a house in the city center of Cheb, an old Czech
town with a long Czechâ~@~SGerman history about 43 km from Karlovy
Vary.
It also owns shares in an apartment complex in Doubi.
https://reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-indepth/1666-azerbaijans-czech-enclave