Arzu Aliyeva is the daughter of the president. The youngest daughter of Ilham Aliyev took over another business
Best wedding Instagram
In September, one of the most notable social events of the year in the CIS took place in Baku - the wedding of Arzu Aliyeva and Samed Kurbanov. A young Russian businessman of Azerbaijani origin, Samed Kurbanov, became the happy husband of the daughter of the President of Azerbaijan.
The newlyweds celebrated their wedding on the shores of the Caspian Sea - in the luxurious Amburan Estate. This recently opened modern recreation center is located in the suburban village of Bilgya, 40 km from the capital of the republic. Due to the hot weather typical of the Caspian coast in September, the wedding ceremony was held outdoors.
How was the wedding ceremony?
The ceremony was attended by the young couple's closest relatives, friends and high-ranking representatives of a number of foreign diplomatic missions. The wedding video of Arzu Aliyeva and Samed Kurbanov became very popular among Internet users immediately after its posting. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva also congratulated the newlyweds. They sent a special telegram to the bride's parents. The wedding ceremony, according to eyewitnesses, was distinguished by modesty and at the same time was very elegant. The menu for the celebration was dominated by Azerbaijani cuisine, although there were also European elements.
Arzu Aliyeva got married at a fairly young age by European standards. The girl is only twenty-two years old. Her husband Samed Kurbanov is also very young - he is twenty-three. According to some sources, Samed and Arzu have known each other since childhood. The newlyweds' engagement was announced in the spring of 2011, and they got engaged in August.
Brief biography of Arzu Aliyeva
Arzu Aliyeva is not the only daughter in the family of the leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. The eldest daughter of the Azerbaijani president, Leyla, got married in 2006. And she also chose a Russian businessman, Emin Agalarov, as her husband (he, like Samed Kurbanov, is part of the select circle of Moscow’s “golden youth”). Leila now lives in the Russian capital and is raising two sons. The younger Aliyeva completed her studies in the UK and is fluent in several foreign languages. Currently, the girl is engaged in charitable activities - she actively participates in events held by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. By the way, the foundation is headed by Arzu’s mother Mehriban Aliyeva, the first lady of the Transcaucasian republic.
Arzu Aliyeva got married for the only son of Aidyn Kurbanov, a famous Russian entrepreneur who died in 2003. Aydin Kurbanov was one of the founding fathers of the All-Russian Azerbaijan Congress, of which his son Samad is now an active member. In addition, the young man heads a charitable organization created in memory of his father, the Kurbanov A.S. Foundation. There is a bright memory of Aydin Kurbanov in Russia and Azerbaijan as a businessman who generously helped those in need. At one time, he provided charitable assistance to orphanages and supported families of children with serious illnesses. At the expense of the late entrepreneur, the first Orthodox church in the republic was erected in Azerbaijan.
Brief biography of Samed Kurbanov
Samed Kurbanov was born and raised in the Russian capital. His mother Irina Pomelova, the widow of Aidyn Kurbanova, is a prominent entrepreneur in the country. The young man graduated from MGIMO, today he is immersed in the family business. Samed Kurbanov is considered a very promising Russian entrepreneur. It is interesting to note that the wedding of Samed and Arzu took place during the CIS summit in Dushanbe. That is why the President of Azerbaijan refused to participate in the summit.
On our website, readers can find out how it went, watch it, and also read an article about what it means and much more.
(10) Film director. Daughter of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, granddaughter of Heydar Aliyev.
"Biography"
Education
She was educated at a boarding school in London, and then at universities in England and Spain. Studied business administration and design.
Dactivity
The second daughter of President Aliyev, Arzu, married on September 3 to a graduate of MGIMO and the son of the late businessman Aidyn Gurbanov, Samed.
The young man began appearing in public with the president’s daughter several months ago, immediately after their engagement.
Some time ago it became known that she is one of the co-owners of Silk Way Bank, where her partners are her sister Leyla Aliyeva and the wife of the head of Azal Airlines Jahangir Askerov, Zarifa Askerova.
The wedding, to which just over 200 guests were invited, took place on September 3 in a newly built dacha area in the Baku suburb of Bilgah.
The groom Samed Gurbanov has an older half-sister, Valentina. The head of the late father’s business is now the young man’s mother, Inna Pomelova.
Back in Soviet times, Aydin Gurbanov moved to Moscow, where he married Inneya. Having an entrepreneurial spirit and easily making connections with people, Aydin Gurbanov made his fortune during perestroika.
He was one of the first to organize the supply of Russian goods to Azerbaijan. He later entered into trading in petroleum products, polymers, pharmaceuticals and grains. Kurbanov owned the Koros group of companies, which is now owned by his wife. The group of companies also includes the Northern Forestry Company and three plastics production plants.
Koros also sells tires, textiles, etc. and has an average annual turnover of $150 million.
Aydin Gurbanov owned 10% in Luxembourg Evraz Group S.A. Which includes Nizhny Tagil (91.4%), West Siberian (95.4%) and Kuznetsk (100%) metal plants, Kachkanar Mining and Processing Plant (84.4%) and others .
There were reports in the press that after Gurbanov’s death, his partner, Alexander Abramov, took over Aidyn Gurbanov’s share in this business. However, Kurbanov's family filed a lawsuit against Abramov in the Supreme Court of England in the hope of winning from him more than $500 million that belonged to their late father and husband.
In the last years of his life, Aydin Gurbanov had very good and strong ties with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The Gurbanov family owns the exclusive right to produce candles for all churches and parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, both in Russia and abroad.
The businessman also spent a lot of money on charity. Thus, shortly before his death, Aydin Gurbanov rebuilt the Orthodox Cathedral of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in Baku, the opening of which was attended by the late Heydar Aliyev, and the cathedral was also consecrated by the late rector of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy. This cathedral is the main cathedral of Baku. A portrait of Aydin Gurbanov hangs in the temple.
Aydin Gurbanov was one of the founders of a large diaspora organization - the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress.
Family"
Husband - Entrepreneur, Businessman. President of the Aidyn Kurbanov Foundation
Father - Azerbaijani statesman and political figure, President of Azerbaijan (since 2003). Son and successor of Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev (1993-2003). Won presidential elections three times (2003, 2008 and 2013)
Mother - - Azerbaijani public and political figure. First Vice-President of Azerbaijan since February 21, 2017, wife of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Deputy of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, head of the working group on Azerbaijani-French inter-parliamentary relations, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Friends of Azerbaijan Culture Foundation, president of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, goodwill ambassador of UNESCO, UN, OIC and ISESCO.
Sister — — Azerbaijani public figure, editor-in-chief of “Baku” magazine, vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and head of the Foundation’s representative office in Russia, general coordinator of the OIC Youth Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, chairman of the Azerbaijan Youth Organization of Russia - AMOR, Founder of IDEA - International Dialogue Initiative on environmental protection. The eldest daughter of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, granddaughter of Heydar Aliyev.
Grandfather - - Soviet and Azerbaijani state, party and political figure. President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor (1979, 1983)
Former Husband of a Sister — — Entrepreneur, first vice president of the Crocus Group of companies, singer, musician, songwriter. Better known mononymously as EMIN.
Father of Sister's Ex-Husband - President and Owner of Crocus Group
"News"
Arzu Aliyeva's film was screened in London (photo)
Documentary film “The goal is Baku. How Hitler Lost the Battle for Oil" was filmed in 2015 in collaboration with the Baku Media Center and the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The general producer of the film is Arzu Aliyeva, the director is Robert Magneroth.
The daughters of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are suspected of facilitating money laundering, the British newspaper The Guardian reports, citing a court statement. According to investigators, Leyla and Arzu Aliyev tried to buy luxury real estate in London from the Child&Child company worth 60 million pounds through offshore companies.
According to the Guardian, we are talking about two apartments in the London area of Knightsbridge, which are located in close proximity to the Queen’s residence, Buckingham Palace. To acquire them, it was planned to use an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, which the British lawyer Khalid Sharif bought from the Panamanian company Mossack Fonseca. This company appeared in a large-scale investigation by anti-corruption journalists OCCRP.
The deal was canceled in 2016, when, following the publication of an investigation into Mossack Fonseca - the so-called "Panama Papers" - members of the Aliyev family were suspected of money laundering on a large scale.
It is reported that the court ordered Sharif to pay a fine of 45 thousand pounds for not checking the origin of the Aliyevs' funds, and an additional 40 thousand pounds. According to British law, such checks are mandatory if persons purchasing real estate in the country are connected with politics. According to the investigation, Sharif refused to do this, obliging his assistant to declare that the daughters of the President of Azerbaijan have nothing to do with politics.
After the publication of an investigation into Mossack Fonseca in 2016, the Aliyev family was suspected of using a network of offshore companies to acquire real estate in London, Moscow, Dubai and Prague.
According to US State Department cables released in 2010, US diplomats in Baku described Azerbaijan as a “feudal country” in which the economy is almost entirely controlled by people associated with President Ilham Aliyev. The latter has ruled the country since 2003, when he succeeded his father, Heydar Aliyev, who died the same year.
At the beginning of 2018, it was also revealed that Arzu and Leyla Aliyev, as well as the children of the Minister of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, used dozens of offshore companies to invest in businesses, expensive real estate and modern hotels throughout Europe and the Middle East. According to , the total value of the Aliyev family's real estate is estimated at more than $100 million. According to a consortium of journalists, the Azerbaijani authorities laundered $2.9 billion through European banks.
According to journalists, the Aliyevs transferred money to the account of the wife of the Prime Minister of Malta through the Maltese bank Pilatus. They were also the ultimate beneficiaries of several offshore companies.
Maltese authorities later found out that the vast majority of the 150 clients of Pilatus Bank belong to the ruling elite of Azerbaijan. It also turned out that many of the bank's transactions were suspicious. The bank did not investigate the origin of the money transferred by politically influential clients. In April, the owner of Pilatus, Iranian citizen Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, was accused of money laundering and sanctions evasion. Malta's banking regulator froze all of the bank's assets, including those that Pilatus served on behalf of clients.
The Aliyev family, in one form or another, owns at least 26 offshore companies registered in Panama and the British Virgin Islands. According to Pasha Bank banking documents, the president’s daughters Leyla and Arzu Aliyev own the Pasha-Holding company. Family members also have close relationships with the Ata-Holding corporation, which owns large stakes in banking, telecommunications, mining and oil and gas businesses.
According to the documents, Ata-Holding is 75% owned by companies in which Leyla and Arzu Aliyev are listed as managers, and the main control belongs to Heydar Aliyev.
The president's family also owns several banks, construction companies, and two of the three largest mobile operators in Azerbaijan. Family members also own 11 mansions in Dubai, as well as properties in London, Paris, Czech Karlovy Vary, Moscow, the Shah Dag resort in Azerbaijan and a resort in Montenegro.
They own several hotels and Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company.
Arzu Aliyeva, Samad Gurbanov
Her husband Samed is engaged in large business in Moscow
On Saturday, September 3, the wedding of the youngest daughter of the President of Azerbaijan Arzu Aliyeva and a major Azerbaijani businessman Samed Gurbanov took place in Moscow. From the laconic semi-official information that “the wedding will take place on the seashore,” we can conclude that the celebration took place not in Moscow, but in Baku. According to some reports, the wedding took place at the Amburan Estate recreation center, 40 km from Baku.
It is quite understandable why the wedding took place in Baku. After all, the wedding of the eldest daughter of the Azerbaijani leader, Leyla and Emin Agalarov, also took place in the capital of Azerbaijan. The celebration took place on April 30, 2006 at the Gulistan Palace. And Ilham Aliyev personally took part and danced at that wedding. It is known for sure that the President of Azerbaijan also took part in the wedding of his youngest daughter Arzu.
It is noteworthy that the president’s eldest daughter, Leila, moved to Moscow for permanent residence after the wedding. She is currently studying at the most prestigious university in Russia - MGIMO, and has two sons, whom she gave birth to in New York. Both of them have dual citizenship - Russia and the USA. Apparently, the president’s youngest daughter, Arzu, will also move to her husband’s permanent residence in the Mother See after the wedding. Here is Arzu Abdullayeva’s page on the social network
Apparently, the parents decided that the two daughters of the President of Azerbaijan and the First Lady, who grew up together in Baku, should now live in Moscow. And, of course, Samed Gurbanov, like Emin Agalarov, are worthy suitors and are part of the circle of “Moscow’s golden youth.” Not much is known about Samed Gurbanov. There is no exact information about his age in the press. It is known that Samed Gurbanov is a member of the Central Council of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress (VAK) and the president of the charitable Fund Kurbanov A.S., created in memory of his late father.
His father, Aydin Gurbanov was born in Baku in 1953; in 1970 he moved to Moscow. After graduation, he went into business. Aydin Gurbanov started his business by organizing the supply of products from Russia to Azerbaijan, trading in petroleum products, polymers, medicines, and grain. In 1997-98, he won a tender for the supply of diesel fuel and fuel oil to the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation. Aydin Gurbanov died in November 2003 at the age of 50 from blood cancer. According to the oligarch’s colleagues, during the last year before his death, Aydin Gurbanov regularly flew on a private jet to Switzerland, where he received expensive injections. However, the disease was diagnosed at the last stage, and desperate attempts by doctors to save the businessman were unsuccessful.
Aydin Gurbanov left a bright memory of himself as a businessman who was actively involved in charity work. He provided generous assistance to orphanages and helped children with severe congenital diseases. “My husband was a very famous person in Russia and Azerbaijan,” says the businessman’s widow, Irina Pomelova (Gurbanova). “He was the initiator of the creation of the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress, was the vice-president of the Supreme Attestation Commission and did a lot of charity work; an Orthodox church was built in Azerbaijan with his funds.”
Indeed, in March 2003, exactly six months before the death of Aydin Gurbanov, an Orthodox church was opened in Baku after restoration - the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. All work on the restoration of the temple was personally financed by Mr. Gurbanov. To participate in the ceremony, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, members of the government, representatives of embassies, and heads of spiritual missions arrived in the military town of Krasny Vostok, where the cathedral is located.
The temple was built in Tsarist Russia in 1909, and in 1920, by order of the Bolsheviks, the cathedral was closed and its rector was killed, as President Heydar Aliyev said in his speech. Then this building housed a warehouse, which was later converted into a gym. And only in 1991, the dilapidated temple building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The restoration of the temple has been carried out since the establishment of the bishop's department in Baku. During his first visit to Azerbaijan on May 27, 2001, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' performed the great consecration of the Church of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women and awarded it the status of the cathedral of the diocese. In 2001, Alexy II awarded Aidyn Kurbanov the Order of Sergius of Radonezh, II degree.
According to eyewitnesses, Aydin Gurbanov personally controlled all the key processes of the restoration of the temple: he himself chose professional restorers, artists and icon painters, being present at the work site almost around the clock. Aydin Gurbanov was in a hurry, as if he had a presentiment that he did not have much time left to live. And, apparently, then the current leader, Ilham Aliyev, began to respect the famous philanthropist. And, most likely, then the idea of marriage between Arzu Aliyeva and Samed Gurbanov arose. And the Orthodox church built by the late oligarch seemed to become a monument to the good deeds of Aidyn Gurbanov.
After the death of her husband, his multifaceted business was continued by Irina Pomelova and continued to be involved in part of his business. For example, she is a co-owner of the Koros group of companies created by Kurbanov, which owns the Northern Forestry Company and three plastics factories. Koros also sells tires, textiles, etc. The annual turnover of Koros is about $150 million.
In December 2005, the names of Aidyn Gurbanov’s widow and his sons Samed appeared on news agencies’ feeds in connection with a legal battle with business competitors. As it turned out, Aydin Gurbanov controlled about 10% of the Evraz Group. However, after his death in 2003, his widow, son Samed and daughter Valentina were unable to agree with Evraz Group President Alexander Abramov on the terms of the buyout of their share. That's why on December 15, 2005, they filed a lawsuit against Abramov in the Supreme Court of England in the hope of winning more than half a billion dollars from him. According to Forbes, Alexander Abramov in 2005 took 12th place in the “golden hundred” of the richest Russians with a fortune of $2.9 billion.
A source close to Abramov claimed that he was ready to pay Gurbanov’s relatives about $300 million, but they refused. However, Pomelova has a different version of events. According to her, after her husband’s death, she tried to negotiate with Abramov, but he offered unacceptable conditions. This year, Venturi, according to her, transferred $135 million to the account, but these funds were blocked in an account at the Bank of Cyprus because they did not reflect the real value of the package. After this, Pomelova received a letter offering to sell Venturi shares for $250 million - but with the caveat that these offers were not binding, Pomelova’s lawyers claim, adding that negotiations stalled there. “I realized that there was no point in further negotiations, besides, Abramov recently announced that he was going to leave the post of president of the company, this could be followed by the sale of the company, and I decided that now only the court can protect my interests,” Pomelova emphasized.
Returning to the topic of the wedding, I would like to emphasize this detail: the date of the celebration of the daughter of the President of Azerbaijan coincided with the day of the CIS summit in Dushanbe. This is why Ilham Aliyev refused to participate in the CIS summit.
The First Lady of Azerbaijan is rightfully considered one of the sex symbols of our time. It seems that the years have no power over her, and Mehriban and aging are incompatible.
ON THIS TOPIC
Ilham and Mehriban Aliyev have been married since 1983. They have two daughters and a son. Daughter Leyla Aliyeva married Emin Agalarov. On December 1, 2008, their two twin sons were born. A month ago it became known that the couple divorced. The second daughter of Ilham and Mehriban Arzu married Samed Kurbanov in September 2011.
It’s not for nothing that Aliyeva Sr. is called “more fashionable and bolder than the average Muslim woman in Azerbaijan.” And spiteful critics, in addition to political and financial issues, have repeatedly discussed how often 51-year-old Mehriban goes under the scalpel.
The numerous outfits of Aliyeva Sr. do not go unnoticed by envious people. “She wears dresses that would seem provocative even in the Western world.”, they say.
And then I remember a funny incident that happened in September 2008. Aliyeva and her two daughters met with the wife of former US Vice President Dick Cheney. The Secret Service agents couldn't figure out which one was the mother and which one was the daughter. At the time, one White House official suggested that "logically, mothers are probably at the center."
Mehriban is present at all her husband’s geopolitical meetings. Her collection of contemporary art forms the basis of the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Baku. Her family business, which includes several banks, insurance, construction and travel companies, is also of great interest.
According to rumors, Mehriban’s son, Heydar, is the owner of nine luxurious mansions in Dubai. They were purchased for approximately $44 million. Daughters Leyla and Arzu also have property in Dubai registered in their name. The total value of real estate owned by the Aliyev children is estimated at $75 million.
The attention of influential men is the weakness of the first lady. A well-known lover of women, French President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded Mehriban the officer degree of the Legion of Honor. And not so long ago, the press actively discussed rumors about her affair with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The protocol service of the First Lady of Azerbaijan was forced to issue a statement in which it expressed its indignation at the publication of the Italian newspaper Il Foglio about Mehriban’s alleged romantic meetings with Lukashenko in Berlin.
