The sound of construction is coming from every corner of Aghdam, which was once called a ghost town. The workers have rolled up their sleeves to revive the city. The construction of secondary school No. 1 in Aghdam will be completed by the end of December. However, it remains a question whether the corridors of this educational institution will witness the noise of 960 students in the next academic year. The reason is simple: Although the school building is ready, the town and its inhabitants are yet absent.

In the press release dated 2022 October, the president's special representative for Karabakh, Emin Huseynov, stated that only 18% of Aghdam's territory has been cleared of mines.  Construction works follow this mine-clearing effort. However, it is not disclosed in which ways and methods the companies are involved in the construction works in the region.

Let's take the example of the construction of secondary school No. 1 in Aghdam city, which we are talking about. The customer of the construction works is the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan. The Ministry concluded the contract with "Uni Ko" CJSC without holding a procurement competition. Neither the ministry nor the officials of "Uni Ko" CJSC responded to the inquiry about how much funds were paid to the company for demolition, excavation, construction and  completion works in 2.32 (two full thirty-two percent) hectares of land.

The preparation of the project of the school consisting of 3 floors and 3 blocks was not easy at all. The Ministry of Science and Education held 3 tenders for this purpose. 2 tenders organized in June and October 2021 were canceled based on the letters of the State Service for Anti Monopoly Control and Supervision of the Consumer Market under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. One of the interesting points in this process is that there was a price difference of only 60 manats between the offers of "Archico" LLC and "PBA" CJSC, which were declared winners in the 2nd and 3rd tenders, respectively. How these project documents differ from each other is now known only to the designers and the members of the competition commission. In conclusion, the contract in the amount of 197 thousand manats was signed with "PBA" CJSC in December 2021.

Director of "PBA" CJSC Mirjafar Jafarov is also the deputy director of "Uni Ko" CJSC. "Uni Ko" JSC presents "PBA" JSC as its subsidiary on its website. In other words, the school’s project and construction is to be carried out by companies that are actually under one umbrella. The selection of construction companies has not started. But the special representative of the president of Karabakh, Emin Huseynov, has already announced the exact date of the end of the 1st stage of construction works - April 10, 2024.

According to the urban planning justification prepared by the "Azermemarlayiha" Senior State Design Institute in the 1st stage, a total of 1220 private houses and numerous social facilities are planned to be built in the villages of Khidirli, Sarijali and Kangarli. In general, the goal is to settle 2,564 families in these 3 villages, which unite more than 10,000 people. Emin Huseynov stated that one of the buildings in the complex of 6 residential buildings built in Aghdam will be completed at the end of this year.

This residential complex belongs to PMD Group LLC. This company is included in the structural division of PASHA Holding. PASHA Holding, in turn, belongs to the family members of President Ilham Aliyev.

1.55 hectares of land has been allocated for the residential complex in Aghdam city. Construction works are performed by "PDM Projects" LLC. The construction of this complex of 209 apartments is planned to be completed by the end of 2023. Next year, the company plans to start construction of 4 more residential houses. The "PDM Projects" company did not respond to inquiries about the granting of permits for the construction of this residential complex and the allocation of land, as well as the plans for organizing the sale of apartments.

This group, which belongs to the family members of President Ilham Aliyev, has also started the construction of 2 hotels - "PARK FOREST HOTEL Aghdam" with 110 rooms and "CITY HOTEL Aghdam" with 130 beds, in addition to the complex of residential houses in Aghdam city.

In 2021, Azerenerji OJSC organized 3 tenders for the construction of "Aghdam-1" and "Aghdam-2" substations, and the construction of 110 kV two-circuit power transmission lines between "Khindiristan" and "Aghdam" substations. The state agency signed contracts with the winning companies and published notices about it. But it kept secret how much money will be paid to "Electro Industries" JSC and "AZCONSTRUCTION" JSC for these contracts, which are worth at least 3 million US dollars. AbzasMedia was told by the competition commission of Azerenergy that the legislation does not provide [require]require announcing the value of the contract concluded based on the results of purchases by this method. In our previous investigations, we revealed that "Electro Industries" CJSC and "AZCONSTRUCTION" CJSC are related to the family companies of the head of Azerenergy Balababa Rzayev.

 The Heydar Aliyev Foundation is carrying out the repair and restoration of Juma Mosque in Aghdam. A qualified Austrian company is also involved in the process. However, there is no transparency in the repair works. The initial project concept for the mansion complex in Aghdam where the palace of Panahali Khan is located was developed by the Italian company "Artcloud Network International S.C.R.L." But, it is not known how the Italian company was chosen. The financial resources required for the preliminary design works of the complex are planned to be allocated from the Karabakh Revival Fund as a grant. Although the Fund first promised to answer our question on “how much will be allocated for this?”, our calls later went unanswered.

Economist, chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare Party, Gubad Ibadoghlu says that the planning and design of the work done in the territories freed from occupation are defined in a narrow framework, and there is no public participation. The opinion of the population and community, local executive authorities is not taken into account. And that's why there is unsystematic character of operations.

 ADW party chairman Gubad Ibadoghlu:

"From the information we have obtained from the companies in those areas, it is clear that they are mainly owned by the ruling family and at the same time by the political elite around it. For example, the company of the brother of Shahmar Movsumov, the aid of the president of Azerbaijan, was given permission to utilize locally important construction materials in Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Jabrayil Districts. As you know, accessing those lands is granted by permission since the area is closed. There are only simple tours in the area, to Aghdam and Shusha, and visitors only witness the existing ruins in Aghdam. It is impossible to get information about the work going on from either official or unofficial sources."

Note: this investigative article was published on December 6, 2022. Currently, Mr. Ibadoghlu is in prison what is widely considered as politically motivated move

 In Aghdam, the workers are working tirelessly. The money allocated for these constructions, however, is kept under wraps.

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