Kyiv Nisanov Square. Zarakh Iliev: the path from a tailor to a billionaire and the largest owner of commercial real estate. Childhood and growing up

Birthday April 24, 1972

entrepreneur, chairman of the board of directors of the Kyiv Ploshchad company, chairman of the board of directors of the construction JSC Safra Instruments

Biography

God Nisanov was born on April 24, 1972 in the village of Kuba (Krasnaya Sloboda) in Azerbaijan into the family of the director of a cannery where most of the Nisanov clan worked.

I graduated first from the Finance and Credit College for a year, and then from the Law Institute in Baku. And only after receiving his education, his family’s connections allowed him to enter the oil business - then he was busy transporting Azerbaijani oil products and controlled a certain part of sales.

Since the early 1990s, God Nisanov has been doing business in Moscow. Worked in Telman Ismailov's AST group of companies. In 1992, he began helping his fellow countryman Zarakh Iliev in wholesale trade, with whom he lived in the same yard in Cuba and had known each other since childhood.

In 2000-2005 he worked at a diamond processing company - Diamond Cutters LLC.

In 2001, the partners opened the Moscow trade fair complex in Lyublino.

In 2005, the Biscuit company, owned by Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov, bought the Ukraine Hotel at an auction by the Moscow government.

In 2006, the Evropeisky shopping complex was opened near the Kievsky railway station.

In 2007, he ran for the post of deputy of the State Duma on the list of the LDPR party.

In 2009, Moscow authorities closed the Cherkizovsky market.

Family

Married, three children.

Own

According to media reports, he is a co-owner of the shopping and entertainment centers "European" and "Kyiv Ploshchad", the furniture center "Grand", the trade and fair complex "Moscow", the hotel "Ukraine" and the Cherkizovsky market.

One of the last documents signed by Yuri Luzhkov on the eve of his resignation from the post of mayor of Moscow was a plan for the privatization of city property, which included the city’s 50% share in the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya hotel near the Kievsky railway station. The other 50% of the shares of this hotel since 2008 belong to a structure controlled by God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev. Then the city authorities were going to challenge the deal, since the previous owner did not offer the Moscow government to buy out his share, but the matter was not taken forward. Since the end of 2009, God Nisanov, through his press service, has expressed interest in the complete buyout of Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya and its subsequent reconstruction, but this may be prevented by the resignation of Yu. Luzhkov. Previously, all the most liquid assets of the city were privatized in a non-transparent manner, experts say, however, with the appointment of Sergei Sobyanin to the post of mayor of Moscow, the situation may change.

1992 came to Russia, began helping his fellow countryman Zarakh Iliev in wholesale trade

2001 opened the trade and fair complex “Moscow” owned by partners in Lyublino

2005 The Biscuit company, controlled by Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov, bought the Ukraina Hotel at an auction by the Moscow government.

2006 opened the “European” shopping complex near the Kievsky railway station
Source: vedomosti.ru

Since the early 1990s, God Nisanov has been doing business in Moscow. According to media reports, he is a co-owner of the shopping and entertainment centers "European" and "Kyiv Ploshchad", the furniture center "Grand", the trade and fair complex "Moscow", the hotel "Ukraine" and the Cherkizovsky market. During Soviet times, Goda Nisanov’s father was the director of a cannery where most of the Nisanov clan worked. God himself graduated first from a financial and credit technical school, and then from a law institute in Baku. And only after receiving his education, family connections allowed him to enter the oil business - then he was busy transporting Azerbaijani oil products and controlled a certain part of sales.

One of the last documents signed by Yuri Luzhkov on the eve of his resignation from the post of mayor of Moscow was a plan for the privatization of city property, which included the city's 50% share in the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya hotel near the Kievsky railway station. The other 50% of the shares of this hotel since 2008 belong to a structure controlled by God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev. Then the city authorities were going to challenge the deal, since the previous owner did not offer the Moscow government to buy out his share, but the matter was not taken forward. Since the end of 2009, God Nisanov, through his press service, has expressed interest in the complete buyout of Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya and its subsequent reconstruction, but this may be prevented by the resignation of Yu. Luzhkov. Previously, all the most liquid assets of the city were privatized in a non-transparent manner, experts believe, however, with the appointment of Sergei Sabyanin to the post of mayor of Moscow, the situation may change.
Source: Wikipedia

Dossier:

Nisanov's activities always remained in the shadows. His photo exists only in the Air Force archives. After receiving his education, Nisanov entered the family oil business: he transported Azerbaijani oil products and controlled sales. Until now, he manages part of the Azerbaijani oil portfolio.

Nisanov moved to Russia in the late 90s, and ended up at the Cherkizovsky market, where part of the territory was by that time headed by Zarakh Iliev. Both of them came from the village of Tats - Mountain Jews. Subsequently, Nisanov became Iliev's right hand in construction projects.

Together with Iliev, Nisanov began to control the Moscow complex, the Electronic Paradise and Panorama shopping centers.

In Moscow, Nisanov also worked in the AST group of companies, which is owned by Nisanov’s compatriot Telman Ismailov, which included KBF AST LLP, which owns a controlling stake in OJSC Central Military Store (Voentorg), CJSC AST-Cherkizovo, LLC AST Kapstroy ", LLC "AST International Investment", restaurant "Prague".
Source: solomin from November 17, 2006

In 2000-2005, Nisanov worked at Diamond Cutters LLC, a diamond processing company. Since 2003 - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the construction JSC Safra Instruments.

Nisanov is the head of Grand Title LLC, which owns the Grand furniture shopping center.
Source: APN from November 20, 2007

In 2005, Nisanov and Iliev, on behalf of Biscuit LLC, purchased the Ukraine Hotel, one of the famous Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow, at an auction for a record amount of more than 7 billion rubles. The names of representatives of Biscuit LLC were not publicly disclosed; Nisanov did not comment on the deal. But it was known that the founder of the LLC was Streamway Limited, whose list of representatives included Nisanov and Iliev.
Source: “Kommersant” No. 221 (3305) dated November 24, 2005

In 2006, law enforcement agencies began checking the auction for the sale of the Ukraina Hotel - it was assumed that there was a prior conspiracy at the auction. However, nothing could be proven.
Source: “Kommersant” No. 16 (3347) dated January 31, 2006

In 2006, Nisanov’s name was at the center of a scandal related to the construction of the Evropeisky shopping and entertainment center, built by Nisanov’s Kyiv Ploshchad company, on the square in front of the Kievsky railway station. Rosprirodnadzor wanted to check the construction site, since the future parking of the hotel was supposed to be located in the water protection zone of the Moscow River, and the construction itself could threaten the Filevskaya metro line.

Deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Mitvol together with State Duma deputy Sergei Mitrokhin, acting. O. Deputy environmental prosecutor of Moscow Dmitry Kavyshkin and State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein tried to get to the construction site of the shopping center, but they were not allowed in by private security company employees. Pushing the plywood door of the window, into which Khinshtein stuck his fingers, they injured his hand, after which they poured concrete dust on the heads of those gathered. According to Nisanov, at that time all of his employees had just gone on vacation.

Mitvol and Khinshtein submitted a written statement to the prosecutor's office.
Source: solomin from 09/11/2006

In September 2006, Rosprirodnadzor and the environmental prosecutor’s office conducted a comprehensive examination of the construction of the Evropeiskoye and decided that it complied with the necessary standards.
Source: solomin from December 22, 2006

In October 2006, the Kyiv Ploshchad company won the case against the environmental prosecutor's office.
Source: solomin from November 17, 2006

During their vacation, Nisanov and Iliev teamed up with other Mitvol’s ill-wishers - perhaps that’s why they received such an examination result. For Mitvol, the situation with “European” ended badly: his career and reputation were under threat. First, Alexander Khinshtein defected to the enemy side and made an official statement that he was satisfied with the results of the examination. At the same time, scandalous details of Mitvol’s raids on the dachas of famous people in the Moscow region and on the Sakhalin-2 company appeared in the media. The head of Rosprirodnadzor, Sergei Sai, turned to the Ministry of Natural Resources with a request to check Mitvol’s official activities and remove him from office. It is possible that Nisanov and Iliev tried to achieve this.

Forbes magazine has once again compiled a rating of the “kings of Russian real estate.” The first place in it was taken by entrepreneurs Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov. As part of their Kyiv Ploshchad company, they control more than a million square meters of retail space in the capital, which brings them almost $1.5 billion a year.

Also in the stash, the billionaires also have a shipping company, interests in the hotel business, and now an aquarium at the All-Russian Exhibition Center and a skyscraper in the Moscow City complex are being completed. At the same time, Iliev and Nisanov remain the most private of all Russian oligarchs, persistently trying to stay away from cameras and journalists. They developed this habit back in the 90s, when future oligarchs held the famous Cherkizon. Our Version traced the path from market stalls to the thrones of the “kings of real estate.”

In the spring of 2007, secular gossip reported that Moscow Rublyovka was empty overnight, and several charter planes took off from the airports. All the more or less significant “VIPs” from the world of business and government headed to Turkey to celebrate the anniversary of a man who will never be seen on television or on the pages of glossy magazines, but who is known to everyone whose interests lie in the capital’s trade and development. According to rumors, to celebrate his 35th anniversary, the co-owner of the Kyiv Ploshchad group, God Nisanov, allegedly chose the residence of the Turkish president, and Shakir entertained the guests. A person with a fortune of several billion dollars can easily afford such a whim.

Business of the era of developed socialism

It’s difficult to say who is more important in this tandem – 48-year-old Zarakh Iliev or 42-year-old Nisanov. At least, due to his age, the joint business was started by the first one - at the very beginning of the 80s, young Zarakh left for Moscow from his native Azerbaijani village of Krasnaya Sloboda. In his homeland, since childhood, he had been sewing “aerodrome” caps; in the capital, the lively young man started selling flowers in Cheryomushki. The further biography conveys the stages of the long journey as follows: while doing business, he set up supplies of cognac to Moscow, then bought several containers at the Izmailovsky market, starting to rent them out.

Entrepreneurship? For a minute, there was still complete socialism in the yard, which regarded such games as speculation with all the ensuing consequences. Moreover, what kind of momentum the young Iliev’s underground business reached can be judged by the fact that already in 1993 he took control of part of the Cherkizovsky market, which quickly began to turn into the main flea market of the country.

By that time, Iliev had already been joined by his fellow countryman God Nisanov. The son of a cannery director came to conquer the capital, already having experience in trade: he founded a consignment store in his native village. Knowing Arabic, in Moscow he quickly established supplies of consumer goods from Dubai.

As they sometimes say, billionaires usually blush when they hear a question about the origin of their first million. God Nisanov gives his answer to this - they say, first he borrowed 85 thousand dollars from his father to buy goods in Dubai, and then things went from there. Although it is difficult to imagine that the director of a rural cannery had so much currency on hand. Another version of the origin of money – Cherkizon – looks much more convincing. However, one can only guess about this. The representative of the Kyiv Ploshchad company, Dilara Rayanova, refused to give any comments.

How Luzhkov favored investors

The Cherkizovsky market is usually associated with the name of the head of the AST group, Telman Ismailov - he really controlled most of the market, but part of the land was managed by Iliev CJSC. According to experts, Cherkizon, whose name has become a household name to denote a cesspool of smuggling and crime, brought in at least half a billion dollars a year. However, the partners soon decided to diversify their business by investing money in the construction of new shopping complexes. There is a version that one of the knowledgeable people whispered to them about the impending closure of Cherkizon, which has already become a thorn even at the federal level. In any case, Nisanov speaks of the collapse of the market “cornucopia” as just an “unpleasant surprise.” After all, by that time he and Iliev had already successfully invested in the premises of the Moscow shopping center - the second owner of the project was the Moscow government.

The relations between the partners and the administration of Yuri Luzhkov have indeed been more than warm. Considering how tasty the capital’s markets are, Iliev and Nisanov were able to get the “Gardener” market. It is no coincidence that traders from Cherkizon moved there. Along with them, the established order moved to the new place. In 2005, Iliev and Nisanov acquired one of the iconic buildings for Moscow - the Stalinist high-rise hotel "Ukraine". However, another project became the most ambitious: in 2003, the Moscow mayor’s office entered into an investment contract with the Kyiv Ploshchad group for the construction of a “business and commercial center.” The project was completed in 2006 - so a giant shopping and entertainment center “European” with a total area of about 180 thousand square meters appeared on the square near the Kievsky railway station. At the same time, 30% of the shopping center belonged to the city. This was at least believed until 2011, when Sergei Sobyanin, who replaced Yuri Luzhkov, decided to include the share of “European” in the program of privatization of city property. It was then that it turned out that this was impossible to do, since for some reason the city owns not a third of the center’s areas, but only their 10th part. It was never possible to find out how this happened and which of the officials did not pay attention to it. A scandal broke out and the mayor's office went to court. As a result, the parties agreed that Iliev and Nisanov would recognize the disputed areas outside the city with their subsequent purchase, thus taking full control of one of the largest shopping complexes in Europe.

Secrets of successful entrepreneurship

The story of Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov looks simply like a domestic version of the “American Dream”: people from a remote village work hard and finally reach the sky in diamonds. In the 90s, many people walked along this path. However, as they say, there are no others, and those are far away. Iliev and Nisanov, on the contrary, feel excellent. What's the secret?

Here, many advise paying attention to the roots of billionaires. The village of Krasnaya Sloboda, where both oligarchs came from, has been a densely populated area for Mountain Jews for fifteen hundred years. People from Krasnaya Sloboda can be found all over the world, especially in Moscow. Among them are officials, entrepreneurs, and cultural figures. “Naturally, our diaspora helped us. Our strength is that we do not lose connections with our fellow countrymen,” God Nisanov admitted with pride.

Moreover, these connections extend far beyond Russia. Nisanov and Iliev actively donate money to Jewish organizations. The scale of charity has already reached such proportions that patronage has grown into political influence. In 2011, at a conference of emissaries of the Chabad movement, Nisanov sat next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And when in the summer of 2013, Iliev and Nisanov were unexpectedly searched at Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli President Shimon Peres personally received them to apologize for what happened. The parties agreed to consider the story of the undeclared diamond earrings that customs officers found on Nisanov as an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”

The largest owners of retail real estate in Russia
1. Zarakh Iliev, God Nisanov (“Kiev Square”)
2. Samvel Karapetyan (“Tashir”)
3. Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA Mos)
4. Mikhail Gutseriev, Sait-Salam Gutseriev, Mikail Shishkhanov (“BIN”)
5. Alikhan and Amiran Mutsoev, Amirkhan Mori (GC "Regions")

Zarakh Iliev. Net worth: $3.6 billion. No. 30 on the Russian list of billionaires

Year of Nisanov. Net worth: $3.6 billion. No. 31 on the Russian list of billionaires

Company: Kyiv Ploshchad

Rental income: $1.4 billion

Main objects: “Food City” (350 thousand square meters), Radisson Royal Moscow hotel (535 rooms), shopping center “European” (63 thousand square meters).

Control 1,200,000 square meters of retail space

It has long been fashionable to hold all kinds of economic forums, round tables, scientific and practical conferences, at which scientific luminaries and outstanding practitioners try to unravel the secret of success and formulate a reliable recipe to guide the country in the right direction of development. Residents of the small Azerbaijani village of Krasnaya Sloboda, located very close to the border with Russian Dagestan, listening or reading news about the next global gathering of economists, are probably grinning.

Domestic and foreign scientists are not looking for the truth there. For every resident of the village there are no more secrets in economic theory. People from Krasnaya Sloboda long ago found answers to all their questions. It’s time for the village to be awarded the title of “science city” or Skolkovo to be moved here from the Moscow region. In terms of the number of millionaires and billionaires born per capita, Krasnaya Sloboda is unrivaled not only in the entire CIS, but also in the world. For a long time, the largest community of Mountain Jews lived in this place. Expelled from Spain at the very end of the 15th century, the Jews settled first in Persia, and then, at the invitation of the Kuban Khan, settled not far from his residence.

Many generations of Tats, as the Azerbaijanis call them, have been engaged in crafts and trade for centuries, turning Krasnaya Sloboda into a well-groomed town, very different from the dusty villages of the indigenous population of those places. Now the number of permanent residents in Sloboda has decreased by almost 3 times. The majority went to earn money far from their home and, as a rule, do not complain about life. The largest Tat community now lives in the Russian capital. There are about 15 thousand of them in it.

Zarakh Iliev, born in Krasnaya Sloboda in 1966, began helping his father from childhood. Together they sewed caps, the most popular headdress among all Transcaucasian peoples in Soviet times. As soon as he graduated from school, Zarakh immediately went to Moscow to work with his brother. It was 1981, but even then in the capital, immigrants from Azerbaijan had a monopoly on the flower trade. The Russians did not distinguish between them - Azerbaijanis or Tats.

The first retail outlet of Zarakh Iliev is located in Cheryomushki. Now he has built not a monument in that place, but the Panorama shopping center. If desired, a successful businessman could hang a memorial plaque at the entrance for the edification of his descendants and for his own joy. After all, Zarakh Iliev is the sole owner of the building. After flowers, already during the years of perestroika, Zarakh Iliev supplied cognac to a small shop of his relatives in the Lubyanka area. He opened his own business at a time when market trade was beginning to rise. Everything turned out to be extremely simple. Zarakh bought several cargo containers at the Izmailovsky market and began renting them out to entrepreneurs as warehouses and retail outlets.

Having earned start-up capital, together with another Mountain Jew, Iliev began to transform into the largest wholesale and retail trading platform in Moscow. In 1993, Zarakh Iliev’s company took control of 15 hectares of land on the territory of Cherkizon. The duo of two Mountain Jews quickly proved that in organizing trade they can give a head start to all foreign retailers combined.

The matter was set up in such a way that tenants of retail space on the market could only think about selling their goods, replenishing the assortment and determining the cost, taking into account the balance of supply and demand. The spontaneity and habitual disorder that is always inherent in trading on open markets was quickly completely eliminated. A set of simple rules was communicated to all trade participants, which they had to strictly observe. The market administration took upon itself the resolution of other issues. She was able to agree with the regulatory authorities not to bother with inspections unnecessarily.

Order in the market was maintained by its own security, who managed to push out the crowds of buyers who were accustomed to large crowds of people. The organizers of market trade have established a flexible system of rent for retail space, often allowing them to be used on credit on parole.

Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov

Zarakh Iliev nevertheless turned out to be much more insightful and wiser than Telman Ismailov. He perceived the Cherkizovsky market only as a temporary tool for obtaining capital, which must necessarily be invested in projects aimed at the future. Iliev’s strategy was to prepare for the transfer of trade “under the roof.” He threw the touchstone in Lyublino in 2001. Huge abandoned areas of the Moscow Ball Bearing Plant were converted into retail pavilions.

The project was called the “Moscow Wholesale and Retail Shopping Center” and was amazing in its gigantic scale. About 200 thousand square meters were provided to everyone to conduct trade in completely civilized conditions. The owner of the center was a joint-stock company with the same name, in which 57% of the shares belonged to Zarakh Iliev. The rest was owned by the Moscow City Hall, which then became the main strategic partner of the businessman.

In Lyublino, Zarakh Iliev’s long-term collaboration began with another Mountain Jew, God Nisanov, who replaced Telman Ismailov. Specifically for investing in the following projects, Zarah Iliev founded the Safra Instruments company in December 2000. In 2005, together with the iconic avant-garde sculpture Zurab Tsereteli, Iliev founded the City of Miracles company. God Nisanov again took over the operational management of the company. “City of Miracles” was established to implement two global projects - a children's amusement park in Mnevniki and the reconstruction of the All-Russian Exhibition Center. Both attempts to penetrate another area of business remained unrealized

By 2009, Zarakh Iliev’s property had grown with shares in the Electronic Paradise shopping center, the Grand furniture center and the Moscow automobile hypermarket on Kashirskoye Shosse. At the auto center, Iliev installed his patented invention - a demonstration stand for presenting 7 cars to customers at the same time. Once again, the businessman showed technical savvy by designing a globe installed in front of the Evropeisky shopping center. With the sculptor Tsereteli, in addition to business interests, he had another topic for communication. Zarakh Iliev considered himself a creative person with a passion for painting. With the master of Russian monumental art, he could discuss it and his artistic creations.

With the involvement of God Nisanov, it was possible to rebuild the former hotel of the Stalin-Khrushchev era “Ukraine” into a modern Radisson Royal Moscow hotel. The hotel theme continued with the Radisson CAC Slavyanskaya hotel. Not everything always went smoothly. Desperate attempts to build at least one of the planned “miracles” were unsuccessful. In Mnevniki, the matter did not move beyond the fence around the vacant lot. The promise to erect a gigantic “Mosaquarium” on the territory of the All-Russian Exhibition Center ended with the fact that the construction was actually carried out not by Iliev, but by an oligarch. But at the presentation of the constructed facility to President Putin, the businessman was still present in the retinue of those greeting the first person of the state.

Freedom from racketeering

Since his market youth, Zarakh Iliev has always stood one step away from organized crime. Somehow he managed to free the traders of the Cherkizovsky market from the pressure of racketeers. It is likely that he himself paid the money to the “roof”, including a certain percentage in the rent. Cherkizon eventually turned into a huge center of smuggling, illegal emigration and slave labor, and one of its owners, Zarakh Iliev, could not help but know about this “dark” side of it.

In 2009, the market was finally closed by the capital's authorities, burying the further career of Telman Ismailov, who eventually declared himself bankrupt. Most trade participants found new places in the trading pavilions of Zarakh Iliev. By the end of the Cherkizon era, two Moscow Tatas had completely switched to the construction of commercial real estate, becoming the capital's largest owners.

Again, as a couple, they founded the Kyiv Ploshchad CJSC, which began giving a modern appearance to the trading area in front of the Kievsky railway station. Zarakh Iliev had access to the capital's mayor Luzhkov and his businesswoman Baturina. Without the goodwill of the Moscow authorities, he, of course, would not have been able to build the Evropeisky shopping center in the water protection zone of the Moscow River and at the same time cut down a public garden for the construction site. No one was allowed to do this in Moscow.

Soon, growing appetites forced Iliev to look for a place for development outside the city limits. On Kashirskoe Highway, repeating the successful experience with the workshops of the ball-bearing plant, instead of the production buildings of the FSUE Eleron, a hypermarket of Moskva automobiles arose. At the 14th kilometer of the Moscow Ring Road, Iliev built the Sadovod shopping center, and a little further, the Southern Gate shopping center, which further aggravated the transport situation on this section of the ring road. Traffic experts warned the Moscow administration about this prospect, but once again Zarakh Iliev’s arguments turned out to be more powerful.

The pursuit of profit forces him to turn a blind eye to many unacceptable things. Its food terminal “Food City” not only caused constant huge traffic jams, but was also located in a place that is poorly compatible with food trade. Next to it is the Nikolo-Khovanskoye cemetery and the recently mothballed landfill for household waste - the Salaryevskaya landfill, which poisons the surrounding area with stinking gas and toxic waste.

The waste dumped over the decades of existence of the city dump goes into the thickness of the earth to the depth of a 27-story building. The complex technogenic situation is complemented by a high-pressure gas pipeline and power lines stretching very close by. Renting retail space annually brings Zarakh Iliev about $500 million. He persistently invests most of the income in new projects. The total capital of the Russian businessman has long exceeded $1 billion. In his homeland in distant Krasnaya Sloboda, the remaining fellow tribesmen can be proud of Iliev and set him as an example to everyone who decided to grab the “bird of luck” by the tail.