Fires in Azerbaijan’s purchasing centres
Fires in Azerbaijan’s purchasing centres have raised public and media considerations for a few years. A constant sample is the dearth of transparency, with investigation outcomes both not made public or remaining inconclusive.
The most recent incident occurred on the well-known Karvan purchasing centre within the metropolis of Sumgait. Reviews say the fireplace started within the “Zhale 94” retail unit and quickly unfold by a big a part of the advanced early within the morning.
Though the outcomes of the investigation haven’t been disclosed, the fireplace has, as standard, been attributed to defective electrical wiring.
Specific consideration was drawn to the 2019 hearth within the eighth kilometre district of Baku, which led to the destruction of the Diglas purchasing centre. On the time, media studies claimed the centre belonged to Anar Mahmudov, the son of former nationwide safety minister Eldar Mahmudov.
Property linked to former minister’s household and public suspicion
The Diglas purchasing centre attracted consideration not just for its industrial significance but in addition resulting from its political connections. Native retailers reminiscent of Axar.az and Musavat.com reported after the incident that the centre belonged to the household of Eldar Mahmudov.
In line with some sources, the close by “eighth Kilometre” market had been seized years earlier by the Ministry of Nationwide Safety, which was headed by Mahmudov on the time.
These claims had been confirmed by a businessman from that interval, Salman Safarov, in addition to by convicted senior officers of the Ministry of Nationwide Safety, together with Akif Chovdarov, of their court docket testimonies.
Following the fireplace, an investigative fee was shaped on the orders of the Prime Minister. Nonetheless, to this present day, no public report has been launched relating to its findings. The reason for the fireplace and whether or not anybody was held accountable stay unknown — regardless of tons of of entrepreneurs shedding their items and the financial system struggling vital harm.
New construction work is at present underneath means on the positioning the place the Diglas purchasing centre as soon as stood.
Amid this, the Nizami District Government Authority of Baku has said that the positioning is privately owned. In consequence, the authority has declined to remark additional.
The State Committee for City Planning and Structure reported that on 10 December 2024, Baku’s Important Division of Structure and City Planning, working underneath the State Committee for City Planning and Structure of the Republic of Azerbaijan, issued a building allow for a five-storey, non-residential industrial advanced overlaying 3,200 sq. metres on the identical location.
Political context and fall of Eldar Mahmudov
Eldar Mahmudov was dismissed from his submit in October 2015. His elimination turned a serious occasion on Azerbaijan’s political scene, following years of inner battle, corruption scandals, and the dismantling of constructions referred to as the “MNS gang” that had taken root throughout the state.
On the time, the banking sector was abuzz with allegations of embezzlement of state funds by Mahmudov’s brother-in-law — then-head of the Worldwide Financial institution of Azerbaijan, Jahangir Hajiyev — and members of his household.
President Ilham Aliyev, with out naming people, harshly criticised crimes dedicated by family of state officers and the safety prolonged to them by these in energy throughout high-level conferences of the interval. Media interpreted this as a veiled accusation directed at Eldar Mahmudov. Simply days later, the arrests of Mahmudov and his associates started.
Diglas hearth and systemic coincidences
One idea circulating in public opinion is that the Diglas hearth was not merely a technical accident however a part of a broader course of aimed toward weakening the financial constructions related to the previous minister’s household. Official our bodies have neither confirmed nor denied these claims.
Though plans had been introduced to assemble a brand new purchasing centre on the positioning following the fireplace, no investigation findings have been made public. Nor has there been any official denial of hyperlinks between Eldar Mahmudov or his son and the property.
Different fires: circumstances with unclear causes
The imprecise outcomes of investigations into these incidents — and, in some circumstances, the obvious dealing with of property and reconstruction processes in favour of the ruling household — increase additional questions. On account of a scarcity of transparency, these assumptions are neither formally confirmed nor denied.
Nonetheless, observations counsel that the financial exercise happening in these areas after the fires tends to serve the pursuits of particular financial teams quite than the general public good.
In recent times, quite a few fires have been recorded on the Sadarak purchasing centre. Between 2016 and 2020 alone, six separate incidents occurred. Most had been attributed to electrical brief circuits, warehouse inventory ignitions, or technical malfunctions. Nonetheless, the outcomes of the investigations into any of those circumstances have by no means been made public.
A sequence of fires attracted explicit consideration: one in February 2019, adopted by the blaze at Diglas in March, one other in August at Sadarak once more, in addition to incidents at markets in Bina, Baksovet, EuroHome, and the 3rd Microdistrict.
There have additionally been no official statements or investigation outcomes relating to the key hearth on the Karvan shopping centre.
Amongst circulating rumours is the claim that Karvan belonged to Ziya Mammadov, the previous head of the now-defunct Ministry of Transport.
One other level to notice is that each the Karvan purchasing centre and the Bravo grocery store are positioned on Sulh Avenue. Nonetheless, in recent times, studies of fires have persistently concerned Karvan, whereas Bravo has remained unaffected.
- shortcomings in security programs;
- weaknesses in oversight mechanisms;
- or easy negligence.
In any case, the related authorities ought to take these incidents underneath management, perform clear investigations, and make clear all unclear factors for the general public. Nonetheless, none of those steps have been taken in recent times.
The dearth of investigations into such a sequence of incidents — together with the sample of fires affecting comparable forms of properties — has fuelled suspicions that these blazes could also be linked to the emergence of latest financial pursuits amongst sure influential teams in these areas. Although no official paperwork have confirmed this.
Financial and authorized gaps behind fires
Specialists hyperlink the frequent fires at industrial properties each to poor technical security measures and to a scarcity of transparency relating to insurance coverage and property possession.
Natig Jafarli, economist and chairman of the ReAl Social gathering, notes that in lots of circumstances, retail areas are rented out with out formal contracts. Because of the absence of official agreements, neither the premises nor the products saved inside are insured. This makes it unimaginable to evaluate damages or present compensation within the occasion of a fireplace.
President Ilham Aliyev additionally highlighted this subject through the Diglas hearth, urging enterprise house owners to insure their property. Nonetheless, within the years since, little significant progress has been made.
Regulation exists, however transparency doesn’t
In line with Azerbaijan’s 1997 Law on Fire Safety, the State Hearth Supervision Service is accountable for investigating and figuring out the causes of fires. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a authorized requirement to current these findings to the general public. In consequence, key details usually stay within the shadows, even after incidents that provoke widespread public concern.
In conclusion
The Diglas case left a mark not solely on Azerbaijan’s financial panorama but in addition on its latest political historical past. But it isn’t an remoted case. The dearth of publicly disclosed investigation outcomes relating to the fires at Sadarak, Karvan, and different purchasing centres will increase the probability that these occasions are unfolding inside a broader context — formed by financial pursuits and shifting political energy dynamics.
Stopping such incidents sooner or later would require greater than stricter laws; it should demand stronger mechanisms for transparency and accountability to the general public.
Properly-known corporations owned by members of the ruling household, notably within the meals and retail sectors, have been increasing throughout this era, rising the variety of retailers and retailers throughout the nation. Right here, competitors appears to develop not alongside financial traces, however within the context of recurring fires. One notable development is that no fires have been reported in supermarkets owned by the ruling household — some extent that, whereas unproven, raises severe questions.
