Vagif Aliyev. The King of Kyiv Developers

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In the distant 1998, a young and ambitious Azerbaijani came to Soviet Ukraine for a few days, who radically changed the fate of the Ukrainian real estate market. The guy’s name was Vagif Aliyev. Today he is the owner of famous shopping centers in Kyiv - Mandarin Plaza, Ocean Plaza, Lavina Mall, Blockbuster Mall; a scandalous skyscraper - the Parus business center; the most trump residential building - the Diamond Hill residential complex. Aliyev is on the list of the 100 richest people in Ukraine, is friends with the mayor of Kyiv Klychko, and closely communicated with the former Russian ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin.

During all the years of living in Ukraine, Aliyev gave only 3 interviews.

The story of building Vagif Aliyev’s business empire: from selling beer and car tires to meeting Donald Trump.

From beer to gas

Vagif Aliyev was born in 1968 in Baku. Little is known about his family and childhood, the businessman carefully protects his personal life from outside interference. Journalists learned that Aliyev’s entrepreneurial talent manifested itself at an early age. At the age of 5-6, the shrewd guy began to pull off brilliant business operations: he helped adults carry three-liter cans of beer, receiving one ruble for this. His earnings reached 4-5 rubles per day. Already at school, the young businessman started another business: he bought tickets at the local cinema for 25 kopecks and sold them for 30-40 kopecks. The schoolboy hit the jackpot when he bought tickets to the premiere of the film "Fantomas". Little Vagif cannot be accused of stinginess, he gave all the money to his mother, and sometimes took the whole class to the cinema with it.

In 1982, the Aliyev family moved to the resort town of Kislovodsk in Russia. There, at the age of 14, Vagif Aliyev started his first serious business. He, his father, who worked at a service station, and an older friend from Ashgabat became, as they said then, speculators. They brought spare parts for VAZs from Tolyatti and sold them in their hometown. In those years, there was a total shortage of auto parts. The Aliyevs got into the swing of things and realized what the Soviet people needed – basic tires for a Zhiguli. The dealers bought them for 55 rubles and sold them for 75-80 rubles. The goods flew away at the speed of light. In parallel with trading, Vagif was engaged in the construction of private houses. Things were going so well that on the eve of leaving for the army, the young man had the latest model of a Zhiguli and a three-room apartment.

Returning home, the young demobilized soldier plunged into the world of buy-and-sell business. Aliev began supplying elite perfumes from Moscow to Kislovodsk. Naturally, the goods sold like hot cakes, because every Soviet woman on the periphery wanted to have "Red Moscow" perfume in her arsenal.

During one of his trips to Moscow, Vagif Aliyev met a young and ambitious businessman, Ihor Bakai. Today he is a disgraced politician, and in the 1990s he was the main supplier of Turkmen gas to Ukraine.

Journalists assume that the fateful meeting took place in the elite Moscow hotel "Russia", which was famous for its diverse clientele. In the late 80s, every self-respecting Soviet businessman, coming to the capital, stayed at this place. Deals were concluded in the hotel restaurant that changed the history of many countries.

Vagif Aliyev and Ihor Bakai became friends right away, because they had common interests and plans for the future – both wanted to break into big business. At that time, Bakai lived in Kyiv, Aliyev – in Kislovodsk, but this did not prevent the newly-made friends from opening the company “Veles” and the firm “Arbat”, which were engaged in trade.

In 1993, Bakai created the corporation "Respublika". It was conceived as a structure engaged in the supply of Ukrainian food products abroad. Of course, the Azerbaijani friend was in on it. The businessmen successfully traded not only food products, but also diamonds.

When Ihor entered the hungry Turkmen market with record volumes of gas, he immediately contacted Vagif Aliyev and offered him a deal.

Gas, galoshes and America

In the early 90s, Ukraine was in a deep crisis and owed Turkmenistan a fabulous amount of money for the supplied blue fuel. Ihor Bakai came up with a unique scheme – to exchange food for Turkmen gas. With the light hand of the first president of Independent Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, the Respublika corporation received a quota for gas supplies to Ukraine. Everything was bartered: computers, slate, coffee, black pepper and even galoshes. By the way, it was Vagif Aliyev who proposed to supply business partners with 1 million pairs of galoshes in exchange for gas. For the Turkmens, this was a valuable commodity: no one wanted to ruin their fashionable patent leather shoes in the rain.

Six months after the formation of the "Respublika", Ihor Nikonov, an inconspicuous engineer at "Kyivmetrostroy", got a job at the project with Bakai. Together with Aliyev, they began planning "barter multi-move schemes". Their activities led to the corporation "making" about $500 million on gas supplies in just one year of its existence.

After Respublika had successfully served Bakai and sunk into oblivion, he opened the company ZAO Intergaz in 1995. This structure, according to Igor Mikhailovich’s idea, was supposed to implement grandiose corruption schemes. In confirmation of this, in parallel with Intergaz, a subsidiary company, IntergasInc, was registered in Pennsylvania (USA). Its main task is to withdraw the currency earned by Intergaz to offshore accounts.

Bakai invites Ihor Nikonov to work at Intergaz as a commercial director and Vagif Aliyev as his right hand and unofficial deputy.

In the mid-1990s, the Russian Itera began to finally push Intergaz out of the market. It was unsafe to be in the country because of the market redistribution that had begun. In 1996, Nikonov and Aliyev decided to move to the United States. They chose sunny Miami as their new homeland. They bought a mansion there and enjoyed the ocean view, warmth, and resort life for a year. According to journalists, they planned to build a business in America, but abandoned the idea due to a lack of knowledge of the laws, the specifics of the US market, and the English language. The most that entrepreneurs from the former USSR could count on was three gas stations.

However, America changed Vagif Aliyev’s life dramatically. He not only managed to bask on the ocean shore, but also met the legend of development, the future US President, Donald Trump. This happened in 1998. Mutual friends introduced Aliyev and Trump. Their conversation lasted 4 hours. During this time, the businessman learned the main thing: the era of grandiose construction was beginning, you need to build in the right place and always be the first.

Returning to the meetings, Vagif Aliyev suggested his trusted friend and business partner Igor Nikonov to engage in development. Nikonov was not against it. The businessmen decided to return from America, especially since Igor Bakai, who by that time had become the main NAK Naftogaz of Ukraine, had already invited them several times. They studied the markets for their actions and came to the conclusion that Ukraine was the most suitable for them. Aliyev and Nikonov left the USA, taking with them several suitcases filled to the brim with dollars.

Construction boom

In 1998, already in Ukraine, Vagif Aliyev met Serhiy Babushkin, who was the chief architect of Kyiv at that time. Babushkin dreamed of building a real skyscraper in the capital. The novice but promising developer supported his idea. The construction of giants of the "New York" type united Aliyev and Babushkin for many years. The tandem developed three grandiose projects that destroyed the historical appearance of Kyiv: the reconstruction of the Bessarabian quarter, the construction of the Parus business center and the Gulliver multifunctional complex. But first things first.

In 1999, business partners Aliyev and Babushkin began to come up with ideas one after another. The first of them was the reconstruction of the center of Kyiv in the Bessarabsky quarter area, where Khreshchatyk, Shevchenko Boulevard and Krasnoarmeyskaya intersect. They turned to an "experienced" builder, and part-time mayor of Kyiv, Oleksandr Omelchenko, with their proposal. Let us note right away that Aliyev followed an excellent strategy - he had his eye on the buildings of Besarabka - a hospital and a school, which had been destroyed for more than fifteen years. Omelchenko was also not thrilled with the empty building in the center of the capital. He tried several times to attract foreign investors, but they were afraid to invest money in a post-Soviet country.

In 1999, the building on Bessarabskaya Square was declared unsafe – the load-bearing structures had worn out and one of the facade walls had collapsed. To their surprise, foreign investors were found. The Korean corporation Daewoo, which worked with the Kyiv architect Vadym Zhezherin, took on the reconstruction project. They made an interesting proposal for a 47-story building. It was approved at a high level, but ultimately not agreed upon. The “top brass” abruptly changed their minds and announced a competition for the development of the center of Kyiv. Only Ukrainian investors could participate in it. The ex-mayor recommended the aspiring developer Vagif Aliyev and his partner Igor Nikonov. Serhiy Babushkin also supported the businessmen. The trio promised to preserve the appearance of the building, strengthening the load-bearing walls and the basement foundation.

The land of the Bessarabsky quarter was put up for sale. It went under the hammer to Vagif Aliyev for 5 million dollars. An interesting detail: the businessman paid for it with cash from that very suitcase brought from America. At that time, Aliyev still had the Soviet training, and he preferred to pay for multi-million dollar transactions in cash.

The most difficult problems in the Besarabka development project were the problems with communications: it was about the city center, and the relocation of a comprehensive school, which was located on the site of the future Mandarin Plaza. The newly minted owner of the land found a way out: he formed a pool of investors. Ukrainian developers did not have money for the entire project, but they could "pull" small areas. The construction was carried out according to the following scheme: the developer was the city administration, the attracted businessmen managed the construction, paying money to the budget per square meter, and Kyiv itself took on the functions of the customer.

In 2000, Aliyev created Mandarin Plaza CJSC, where he concentrated all the money from investors and continued to finance construction. A year later, the company K.A.N. appeared. It became Aliyev’s main partner in the reconstruction of Besarabka.

"K.A.N." is an abbreviation of the names of its founders Volodymyr Krapivin, Vagif Aliyev and Ihor Nikonov. In parallel with the financing of "Mandarin Plaza", the company began construction of the "Dominant" business center next door. Its project was approved as part of a large-scale reconstruction of the city by Alexander Omelchenko. Nine months later, the ex-mayor cut the red ribbon at the opening of "Dominant". After such a success, Nikonov did not rest on his laurels. He sold the business center to Aliyev, as well as all shares in the "K.A.N." company. "Dominant" was merged with the "Mandarin Plaza" under construction and assigned a single address.

Ihor Nikonov decided to continue the successfully launched business alone. He registered a new company with the old name "K.A.N. Development". Due to the fact that there were two practically identical companies on the construction market, no one had any doubts - Nikonov and Aliev are still partners.

By the way, an interesting point: the letter "K" in the name of the newly created company "K.A.N. Development" is associated with the Klitschko brothers. According to journalists, the boxers invested considerable money in the structure, earned in the boxing ring at the peak of their sports careers. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko still denies any involvement in the construction company. We’ll take his word for it.

In 2004, the Mandarin Plaza shopping center, with a total area of 21.21 thousand square meters, appeared as part of the Besarabskyi quarter - the calling card of Vagif Aliyev.

And Ihor Nikonov and K.A.N. Development implemented their first project – the Arena Entertainment entertainment center. Journalists know that Vitali Klitschko invested a tidy sum in it. However, Nikonov claimed that the future mayor of the capital was solely an ideological inspirer and helped with promotion – he gave the entertainment center gloves and photos with autographs. We don’t think anyone will be surprised by the fact that Arena Entertainment was sold to Aliyev.

In 2007, the odious businessman Dmytro Firtash became a co-owner of Mandarin Plaza CJSC. He, or more precisely his company Heritage Properties International AB (Stockholm, Sweden), acquired 55% of the company’s shares. At the same time, Vagif Aliyev retained his position on the Supervisory Board.

According to journalists, the deal amounted to 500-560 million dollars. At that time, it was an absolute record for the commercial real estate market. The deal between Aliyev and Firtash beat the acquisition of the Globus shopping center by the British fund London & Regional Properties for 200 million dollars.

In 2015, Mandarin Plaza sold 6,000 sq. m of space to a large British investment company, Primespot Securities Ltd, for $40 million. Vagif Aliyev invested the money he received in his new projects – the construction of the Lavina Mall and Blockbuster Mall shopping and entertainment centers.

Arina Dmytriyeva, for SKELET-info