Ilham Rahimov

Ilham Mammadhasan oghlu Rahimov (; born on January 14, 1951, Azerbaijan Republic) is an Azerbaijani and Russian legal scholar, entrepreneur, and author of scientific works on criminology.

In 1988, Rahimov received a Doctor of Law degree from the Leningrad State University Faculty of Law. From 1992 to 1996, he headed the Azerbaijani Institute of Forensic Expertise and Criminology. From 1996 to 1999, he was the vice-rector of the Higher Diplomatic College in Baku.

Rahimov has been one of Vladimir Putin's closest friends since their joint studies at the Leningrad State University. In 1999, almost immediately after Putin was appointed as the Chairman of the Russian Government, Rahimov left his position as a vice-rector at the Higher Diplomatic College in Baku and started business in the commercial real estate sector. Up until 2018, Rahimov was a minority shareholder (10-15%) in several major projects of the holding company , including the shopping center , Hotel Ukraina, the market , and other large-scale commercial areas in Moscow. In 2014, Rahimov was included in the Forbes list of the richest businessmen in Russia, with his wealth estimated at $500 million.

Rahimov is also associated with constructing major real estate objects for Vladimir Putin, including the "first dacha" in Parkove village near Yalta and "Putin's Palace" in Gelendzhik. In 2023, Ilham Rahimov was included in the Canadian sanctions list for contributing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Biography

Ilham Rahimov is one of the most discreet billionaires in Russia. He was born in 1951 in the village of Karakhanly in the Tovuz District in the northwest of Azerbaijan, near the border with Armenia. His uncle held a position of a local prosecutor. where he studied from 1970 to 1975. During that time, Rahimov became close friends with his classmate Vladimir Putin. Back then, Rahimov was the head of group YF-1, and Putin was in group YF-4. They attended classes and judo sessions together and became close family friends. From the few interviews and testimonies of their classmates, it is known that Rahimov often visited Putin's apartment in Saint Petersburg. In turn, Putin also visited Azerbaijan where he stayed at Rahimov's family house.

During his studies at the Faculty of Law, Rahimov specialized in criminal law and considered the head of the law department as his mentor. After graduating from the university, Rahimov continued his education on a postgraduate level at the Leningrad State University, while simultaneously working at the Leningrad Prosecutor's Office. In 1988, he received a Doctor of Sciences degree (equivalent to PhD).

In 2015, Ilham Rahimov, in partnership with two of his university classmates and friends of Vladimir Putin, Victor Khmarin and Nikolai Egorov, founded the company "Investment Solutions". An investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation revealed that in 2019, the company provided approximately 5 billion rubles to the St. Petersburg firm "Binom" (owned by oligarch Yury Kovalchuk) for the construction of "Putin's Palace" in Gelendzhik.

Shares in "Kievskaya Ploshchad"

From the early 2000s until 2018, Ilham Rahimov had shares in the holding, owned by billionaires God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev. According to the Forbes investigation, Rahimov met the Nisanov family while vacationing in the Kubinsky district of Azerbaijan. There, he became friends with Semyon Nisanov, the director of the local cannery and God Nisanov's father. Since 1999, the joint business of God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev, which began with wholesale trading at the Cherkizovsky Market, has significantly expanded. By the early 2000s, Nisanov and Iliev became co-owners of the whole market.

Rahimov owned shares (approximately 10-15%) in each major holding project, managing leading Moscow markets, shopping centers, and hotels. Kievskaya Ploshchad holds leading positions in the commercial real estate market. Rahimov's assets included shares in such facilities as the market, "Panorama" shopping center, shopping center, Hotel Ukraina, and the . The fortune of each of the holding's founders, Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov, is estimated by Forbes in March 2024 at $3.3 billion. Meanwhile, the "Sadovod" market was also involved in significant flows of illegal cash and for a long time served as the largest center in Moscow for cashing out cryptocurrency, Before that, the "Grand" shopping center was one of the key elements in the high-profile case of smuggling italian furniture, known as the "Three Whales" case, that involved law enforcement and customs officials. Vladimir Putin personally intervened in 2004 to resolve the scandal. The company manages the "Grand" and "Grand-2" furniture shopping centers, and also became one of the developers of Moscow-City.

However, a representative of Nisanov and Iliev denied the accusations that Ilham Rahimov used his acquaintance with Vladimir Putin for business benefits. Exact information about the co-owners is hidden through a chain of offshore companies in the Cayman and the British Virgin Islands. However, according to estimates by the Russian media "Kommersant," Rahimov owned no more than 7.4% of the refinery.

Wealth The exact net worth of Ilham Rahimov is unknown. However, in 2014, he was listed among the wealthiest entrepreneurs in Russia, with a fortune of $500 million. The estimation of his wealth was made solely based on the value of his shares in the real estate assets of "Kievskaya Ploshchad".

Involvement in Azerbaijani-Russian relations

I communicate with Putin as if he were my classmate, not as a politician and the head of state... Yes, when we meet with Putin, we talk about it, I convey to him my personal position. Naturally, as an Azerbaijani, the Karabakh issue is also my pain. — Interview with Ilham Rahimov Later, in an interview with the Azerbaijani media Musavat, Rahimov stated that the damage inflicted on the Armenian side amounted to "hundreds of millions" (rubles).

Azerbaijani media reported that Rahimov was one of the first in Baku to start driving a Maybach car. After the death of his wife, he built a hospital in her memory in his native village of Jilovdarly in the Tovuz district of Azerbaijan.

In April 2023, Canada included him in its sanctions list.

Selected academic publications

"The theory of prediction" (Baku, 1987) "The philosophy of punishment and determination of its amendment " (Baku, 1999) "Philosophy of Crime and Punishment" (Russia, Moscow, 2012; Turkish, Istanbul, 2014, English 2015) "Crime and Punishment" (Moscow, 2012) "On the Morality of Punishment" (Saint Petersburg, 2016 in Russian). The book is a continuation of the author's reflections on the philosophical essence of punishment, previously outlined in the books "Crime and Punishment" (Moscow, 2012), "Philosophy of Crime and Punishment" (Saint-Petersburg, 2013) "Theoretical and Practical Problems of Correctional Labor Impact" (Baku, 1981); The International Order of the "Crescent and Star" of the first degree and the title of Knight of the International Order of the "Crescent and Star" by the French International Association "International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights" (2011); Title of Honorary Professor of the Academy of the Investigative Committee of Russia (2016);