Azerbaijani organized crime groups in Russia and Ukraine (there are more than 30 of them), which in the 90s engaged in robberies and the seizure of private businesses, have now shifted almost entirely to protecting markets, selling drugs and counterfeit goods. They also control the flower and fruit trade. Their concentrations are in large cities, city markets, and hotels adjacent to them. These organized crime groups typically consist of people from a specific region of Azerbaijan, after which they bear their name. Experts estimate the combined turnover of Azerbaijani groups in the CIS to be approximately $30 billion.
"The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs acknowledges that in recent years, ethnic mafias have significantly increased their influence and are already attempting to control various sectors of the Russian economy. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Zubov, for example, stated this at the end of 2013. As a result, Russian law enforcement agencies have intensified their efforts to combat ethnic organized crime groups, solving twice as many crimes committed by them in 2014 as in 2013."
In 2014, Interfax, citing the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), reported an increase in the activities of international criminal groups involved in illegal firearms trafficking. Azerbaijani nationals play an active role in these groups. "In July of this year, some of the organizers of the criminal enterprise, mostly Azerbaijani citizens, were caught red-handed in Smolensk while selling another batch of weapons.
From 2000 to 2010, the number of Azerbaijanis in Ukraine and Russia, according to official data alone, nearly doubled. However, experts believe that official figures do not reflect the true picture. The total number of Azerbaijanis in Russia is approximately 2.5 million. Nazim Ibrahimov, head of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Diaspora, stated on July 5, 2012, that 2.5 million Azerbaijanis live in Russia.
The number of Azerbaijanis in Ukraine exceeds two hundred thousand and is growing. These migrants primarily settle in Kyiv and the southern regions of the country, including Mykolaiv.
The turnover of Mykolaiv's markets isn't as large as that of Moscow or Kyiv. However, in absolute terms, it's an impressive sum: one and a half billion hryvnias. One in ten adults in the city and region is employed in the markets in one way or another. Yuriy Granaturov's relatives have set their sights on this business.
The fact is that Granaturov is related to Nadir Salifov, alias Lotu Guli, the current leader of Azerbaijani criminal clans. He is Salifov's second cousin.
According to SBU sources, Granaturov contacted the then leader of the "Azerbaijanis," Bakhysh Aliyev (alias Vakha), twice. The first time was in Moscow in the fall of 2008 and the second in Odessa in the spring of 2010.
Aliyev saw that Granaturov wasn't very successful under Mayor Chaika at the time, and had even been demoted from his post as deputy mayor to the Leninsky District. In short, the current mayor of Mykolaiv had no real influence in the city at the time. Thus, Aliyev knew of his compatriot's existence in Mykolaiv, but he didn't seriously consider Granaturov his man.
But after Aliyev was assassinated in Odessa in 2014, Lotu Guli, the new leader of Azerbaijani "market" organized crime groups, set out to expand his influence into cities previously considered insignificant. Crisis, after all! It was then that they remembered a distant relative, who by then had been elected mayor of Mykolaiv. Thus, Mykolaiv fell under the purview of Azerbaijani organized crime groups.
In the summer of 2015, Granaturov flew to Antalya, as he put it, to treat his hemorrhoids. But the purpose of the trip was different. According to Turkish intelligence, he met with Lotu Guli in Antalya. There, Granaturov heard the terms under which Salifov would provide him with military and financial support in the mayoral elections. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Granaturov promised to bring all of Nikolaev's food markets under the control of the Salifov clan.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, unlike its Russian counterparts, has made no specific statements about the role of Azerbaijani organized crime groups in the country's criminal underworld. However, the criminal archives of the Ukrainian police are also replete with portraits of individuals of Azerbaijani descent. These organized crime groups are quite active, and the stories of their activities are more compelling than those of many crime television series.
The bloody adventures of Azerbaijanis in Ukraine
Mayor of Nikolaev Yuri Granaturov
Last year, Odessa hosted the funeral of influential crime boss Bakhysh Aliyev, nicknamed Vakha. He was shot dead in a restaurant in the city center. Investigators link the crime to a conflict between crime bosses Ali Heydarov (Albert Arkhangelsky) and Nadir Salifov (Lotu Guli), which is escalating into a full-blown criminal war.
According to reports, the murder took place on April 7 at the Vecherniy Baku restaurant on Ilf and Petrov Streets in Odessa. Bakhysh Aliyev and an acquaintance were relaxing at the establishment when seven or eight armed men entered. Given current Ukrainian realities, such a scene is hardly surprising. The attackers approached the thief-in-law's table and opened fire.
Vakha sustained seven wounds and died at the scene. His friend was hit by two bullets and died after paramedics arrived. A group of criminal figures from the CIS, including Russia, flew to Odesa for Aliyev's funeral. According to investigators, the murder was a continuation of a criminal war among "thieves in law" that began in late 2013 and is linked to the redistribution of control over Russia's vegetable markets.
Bakhysh Aliyev was "crowned" in 2004 at a major thieves' gathering held in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Immediately afterward, he found himself at the epicenter of a showdown over Moscow-area vegetable markets, primarily the wholesale greens market, which generated enormous profits. At one point, Vakha even gained control of these facilities, placing his protégé, the "authority," Raguf Rustamov, in charge.
However, in 2005, Bakhysh Aliyev found himself in trouble. Gyulagi Guseinov, the brother of a prominent car dealer, Feyzuli Guseinov, was kidnapped in Moscow. Soon, Vakha's men called the businessman and demanded $5 million for his release. Feyzuli Guseinov contacted the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Central Federal District, where officers soon detained Vakha and several of his closest associates. Investigators quickly discovered that the thief in law had nothing to do with the kidnapping, but had merely decided to profit from the incident. Vakha and his friends were eventually found guilty of fraud, and in 2006, the court sentenced them each to five years in prison.
Thief in law Rovshan Dzhaniev
After the "patron" of the wholesale green market was jailed, another Azerbaijani criminal clan, led by kingpin Rovshan Janiyev (Rovshan Lankaransky), began laying claim to it and other properties. A bloody criminal war ensued, resulting in the deaths of dozens of gangsters. Specifically, on November 25, 2007, Raguf Rustamov was shot dead outside a café in Baku.
The winner of all these battles was Rovshan Dzhaniev, who by 2008 had managed to take control of both the wholesale greens market and a number of other vegetable markets.
In April 2009, Bakhysh Aliyev was released and began gathering forces to continue his "war" with Rovshan Lankaransky. As a result, he managed to find two powerful allies in the criminal underworld: the thief-in-law Nadir Salifov, who, like Vakha, was born in the Dmanisi region of Georgia.
Thief in law Nadir Salifov – Lotu Guli
Lotu Guli was sentenced to 27 years in prison in Azerbaijan back in 1996 on charges of extortion, kidnapping, and illegal possession of weapons. However, according to investigators, this doesn't stop him from acting as an arbitrator in disputes between members of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the CIS countries, nor from leading his criminal clan in Russia. In Russia, investigators identify Ilgam Hajiyev as Salifov's "right-hand man."
Also, in the conflict with Dzhaniev, one of the most influential "thieves in law" Aslan Usoyan (Ded Hasan) agreed to support Vakha.
The criminal war resumed, and murders began again. In Moscow, Rovshan was confronted by the men of Lot Guli's "viceroy," Ilgam Hajiyev, and Ded Hasan's closest associate, Ilgar Aliyev (Danabash, killed in Moscow in 2012). Meanwhile, Vakha went to Ukraine, where Rovshan Dzhaniev had significant financial interests. Bakhysh Aliyev's mission was to "recapture" his rival's assets in Nezalezhnaya.
Grandfather Hasan was killed during a criminal war
In January 2013, Aslan Usoyan was killed by a sniper in central Moscow. Oddly enough, after this, Rovshan Dzhaniev's position in the criminal underworld weakened significantly. He was hunted not only by members of Ded Hasan's clan but also by security forces, both Russian and European. At one point, he was even placed on Interpol's wanted list. Also arrested in Moscow were Lankaransky's closest associates, Nazim Gumbatov (Nazim Khromoy) and Ulfat Tagiev (Rufo Ganja).
In this situation, Dzhaniev could no longer wage a full-scale war against his opponents. During 2013, most of his profitable Ukrainian assets came under the control of Bakhysh Aliyev, while the Russian markets fell to Nadir Salifov and another thief in law, Ali Heydarov. He was "crowned" in 2012 under the protection of Ded Hasan and quickly gained considerable clout in the criminal underworld.
Thief in law Ali Musaib oglu Heydarov - Albert Ganja (Albert Ryzhiy, Albert Arkhangelsky)
However, the three "thieves in law" could not coexist peacefully. "The issue was not only about control of the markets, but also about leadership of the entire Azerbaijani mafia," noted one of the operatives.
As a result, a new war broke out between Rovshan Dzhaniev's former adversaries. According to an agency source, in late 2013, Lotu Guli, considering himself the main victor over Dzhaniev, announced his claims to several markets then controlled by Albert Arkhangelsky. However, Ali Heydarov refused to share the lucrative assets. Several unpleasant phone conversations took place between the "thieves in law," culminating in a serious conflict.
On March 17, 2014, officers from the Main Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation detained two armed hitmen in St. Petersburg. They were discovered to have arrived in the northern capital to assassinate Ali Geydarov. The investigation revealed that the mercenaries had been dispatched by Ilgam Gadzhiev, Lotu Guli's right-hand man. He was detained in Moscow in early April 2014, and officers were forced to use lethal force. As a result, the "authority figure" was injured.
According to investigators, Vakha sided with Albert Arkhangelsky in the conflict between Lotu Guli and Albert Arkhangelsky. Nadir Salifov viewed this behavior from his fellow countryman and former ally as betrayal. Detectives discovered that Lotu Guli made several calls from the prison colony to his people in Odessa. Shortly thereafter, Bakhysh Aliyev was shot dead in a restaurant.
Essentially, a new criminal war has begun, one that will claim many lives. Negotiations between the parties are no longer possible. Moreover, resolving issues peacefully is highly uncharacteristic of the Azerbaijani criminal underworld.
Igor Ivanov, for ORD
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