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]
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ " "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 .
^ a b c Cornell, Svante E. (2015). Azerbaijan Since Independence . Routledge. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-317-47620-7 .
^ 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.
^ "How Family that Runs Azerbaijan Built an Empire of Hidden Wealth - ICIJ" . 4 April 2016. Retrieved 2021-07-11 .
^ 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
^ 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 .
^ 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 .
^ "How A Politically Connected Azerbaijani Tycoon Poured Secretive Millions Into British KFC Franchise" . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . 2024-07-11.
^ Levine, Joshua (2012-08-15). "Big in Baku" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 .
^ Altstadt, Audrey L. (2017). Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan . Columbia University Press. pp. 114–120. ISBN 978-0-231-80141-6 .
^ Waal, Thomas de (2018-11-02). The Caucasus: An Introduction . Oxford University Press. pp. 185–186, 226–229. ISBN 978-0-19-068311-5 .
^ 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 .
^ Cornell, Svante E. (2015). Azerbaijan Since Independence . Routledge. pp. 210–211, 235. ISBN 978-1-317-47621-4 .
^ Project, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting. "The Azerbaijani Laundromat" . OCCRP .
^ Harding, Luke; Barr, Caelainn; Nagapetyants, Dina (September 4, 2017). "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat" . The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
^ "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat" . the Guardian . 2017-09-04. Retrieved 26 May 2021 .