This is second in a series of articles exposing corruption in Azerbaijani military.
The giant (and monopolist) of Azerbaijan’s food industry is Azersun Holding. It is also the largest food supplier of the Armed Forces. But it is not clear how this company gets majority of these orders. There is very little information avaialble in the tenders’ registery list by the State Procurement Agency in accordance with the law.
According to the
investigation
of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Azersun Holding is linked to Ilham Aliyev’s two daughters. The official owner of this company Hasan Gozal is the director of the companies of Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva in Virgin Islands.
It is not clear whether the connection to the president’s family was a reason for the Azersun Holding getting the army orders without transparent tender procedures.
According to the registry information of the State Procurement Agency, in 2012 Azersun Ticaret Dagitim Ltd., which is a part of the Azersun Holding, took part in one tender conducted by the MD on purchase of solid milk. In 2013 the food industry giant of Azerbaijan gained 4 orders through 4 tenders for a total amount of 19,850 AZN:
|
Azersun Ticaret Dagitim Ltd. |
Purchase of food products |
850 AZN |
|
Azersun Ticaret Dagitim Ltd. |
Purchase of disposable pots and pans |
5,544 AZN |
|
Azersun Ticaret Dagitim Ltd. |
Purchase of orange for military bases in Nakhchivan |
4,214 AZN |
|
Azersun Ticaret Dagitim Ltd. |
Purchase of shakarbura, goghal, tangerine |
9,250 AZN |
According to the list of bidding tenders held by the Border Troops, Azersun Dagitim ve Ticaret Ltd., won a tender on 10 lots worth 2,590.456AZN, while Qafqaz Ticaret Ltd. won a competition on purchase of meat cans for the total amount of 930,000 AZN.
In 2013, Azersun Ticaret and Dagitim Ltd. won 12 lots of the tenders conducted by the Border Troops. The records show, the Border Troops purchased products in the total amount of 46,616.615 from the Azersun Holding that year. The Azersun Holding’s participation in any of the tenders on provision of the armed forces with food products in 2014 is not reflected anywhere.
Azersun Holding also provides the Internal Troops with food supply. According to the information provided by an officer of the Internal Troops, who wanted to remain anonymous, the Internal Troops use the food products of the Azersun Holding: “But I do not know if those products were purchased directly from the Azersun Holding or from another company.”
And yet there is no information on contracts signed by the Azersun Holding for food provision of the internal troops between 2012 and 2013 in the registry system of the State Procurement Agency. The orders won by the Azersun Holding from the Ministry of Defence are aslso not mentioned in the procurement registry system. And yet, soldiers report, their food rations consisting mainly of Azersun holding products.
By an order from the Ministry of Defense canned meat and pea boxes feature writings as “Soldier’s portion”, “forbidden to sell”, “The Ministry of Defence”, “Everything for the Motherland” with an addtional Azersun Holding Logo.
The reserve colonel-lieutenant Uzeyir Jafarov says, the Ministry of Defence have been purchasing products from the Azersun Holding at least until 2014. According to Jafarov, the company provided the military with cans of pickled vegetables, tomato paste, jam, and cheese.
None of the parties involved in these deals responded to our written inquiries.
Does this mean that it is legal for a company linked to a president’s family to win state procurement tenders? We contacted a number of economists for clarification, but they declined to answer.
Our next article will investigate other questions on army suppliers.
