Ilham Rahimov İlham Rəhimov | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 14, 1951 Azerbaijan |
| Education | Saint Petersburg State University Faculty of Law |
| Occupation | Legal scholar, entrepreneur |
Ilham Mammadhasan oglu Rahimov (Azerbaijani: İlham Məmmədhəsən oğlu Rəhimov; born on January 14, 1951, Azerbaijan Republic) – Azerbaijani and Russian legal scholar, entrepreneur, and author of scientific works on criminology.
In 1988, Rahimov received a Doctor of Law degree from the Leningrad State University Faculty of Law. From 1992 to 1996, he headed the Azerbaijani Institute of Forensic Expertise and Criminology. From 1996 to 1999, he was the vice-rector of the Higher Diplomatic College in Baku.
Rahimov has been one of Vladimir Putin's closest friends since their joint studies at the Leningrad State University. In 1999, almost immediately after Putin was appointed as the Chairman of the Russian Government, Rahimov left his position as a vice-rector at the Higher Diplomatic College in Baku and started business in the commercial real estate sector. Up until 2018, Rahimov was a minority shareholder (10-15%) in several major projects of the holding company Kievskaya Ploshchad, including the shopping center Evropeyskiy, Hotel Ukraina, the market Sadovod, and other large-scale commercial areas in Moscow. In 2014, Rahimov was included in the Forbes list of the richest businessmen in Russia, with his wealth estimated at $500 million.
Rahimov is also associated with constructing major real estate objects for Vladimir Putin, including the "first dacha" in Parkove village near Yalta and "Putin's Palace" in Gelendzhik. In 2023, Ilham Rahimov was included in the Canadian sanctions list for contributing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.