Corruption in Azerbaijan

Political corruption
Forms and concepts
Anti-corruption
Corruption by country
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Corruption in Azerbaijan is considered high[1] and occurs at all levels of government.[2][3] Corruption during the Soviet era was rife and persists into the present.[4][5][6][7][8][9] As of 2024, Azerbaijan has regularly ranked near the bottom of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.[10]

Azerbaijan's economy is characterized by corruption and inequality.[11] The country's oil wealth has significantly strengthened the stability of Ilham Aliyev's regime and enriched ruling elites in Azerbaijan.[12][13][14][15] The country's oil wealth has enabled the state to host lavish international events, as well as engage in extensive lobbying efforts abroad.[16][17]

In the Azerbaijani laundromat money-laundering scheme, $2.9 billion was paid to foreign politicians and Azerbaijani elites by companies linked to Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev, government ministries, and the International Bank of Azerbaijan between 2012 and 2014.[18]

Corruption is prevalent in education, health care and business more generally.[4] Bribery, nepotism and cronyism are commonplace.[4] The Aliyev government in Azerbaijan restricts public access to information about the owners and shareholders of Azerbaijani companies.[19]

  1. ^ Heradstveit, Daniel (September 2001). "Democratic development in Azerbaijan and the role of the Western oil industry". Central Asian Survey. 20 (3): 261–288. doi:10.1080/02634930120095312. S2CID 143694591.
  2. ^ Öge, Kerem (2014-10-21). "The Limits of Transparency Promotion in Azerbaijan: External Remedies to 'Reverse the Curse'". Europe-Asia Studies. 66 (9): 1482–1500. doi:10.1080/09668136.2014.956448. S2CID 155078060.
  3. ^ ""Ilham Aliyev, 2012 Person of the Year in organised crime and corruption". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Cornell, Svante E. (2015). Azerbaijan Since Independence. Routledge. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-317-47620-7.
  5. ^ de Waal, Thomas (2002). "Reinventing the Caucasus". World Policy Journal. 19 (1): 51–59. doi:10.1215/07402775-2002-2001. ISSN 0740-2775. JSTOR 40209790. Azerbaijan's corruption is perhaps the worst in the entire former Soviet Union.
  6. ^ "How Family that Runs Azerbaijan Built an Empire of Hidden Wealth - ICIJ". 4 April 2016. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  7. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (1997), Parrott, Bruce; Dawisha, Karen (eds.), "Azerbaijan's struggle toward democracy", Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Democratization and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Societies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–155, ISBN 978-0-521-59731-9
  8. ^ Aliyev, Huseyn (2017). When Informal Institutions Change: Institutional Reforms and Informal Practices in the Former Soviet Union. University of Michigan Press. pp. 82–83. doi:10.3998/mpub.8772004. ISBN 978-0-472-13047-4. JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.8772004.
  9. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (2017). Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Columbia University Press. pp. 24–25, 109–138. doi:10.7312/alts70456. ISBN 978-0-231-70456-4. JSTOR 10.7312/alts70456.
  10. ^ "How A Politically Connected Azerbaijani Tycoon Poured Secretive Millions Into British KFC Franchise". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2024-07-11.
  11. ^ Levine, Joshua (2012-08-15). "Big in Baku". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  12. ^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (2017). Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Columbia University Press. pp. 114–120. ISBN 978-0-231-80141-6.
  13. ^ Waal, Thomas de (2018-11-02). The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 185–186, 226–229. ISBN 978-0-19-068311-5.
  14. ^ Ross, Michael (2012). The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations. Princeton University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-691-14545-7.
  15. ^ Cornell, Svante E. (2015). Azerbaijan Since Independence. Routledge. pp. 210–211, 235. ISBN 978-1-317-47621-4.
  16. ^ Project, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting. "The Azerbaijani Laundromat". OCCRP.
  17. ^ Harding, Luke; Barr, Caelainn; Nagapetyants, Dina (September 4, 2017). "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  18. ^ "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat". the Guardian. 2017-09-04. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  19. ^ "'Official Partners' of Azerbaijan's COP29 Climate Summit Linked To Ruling Aliyev Family and Their Inner Circle". OCCRP. 2024.