Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company, Ltd. (AIMROC) is an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

and is the second largest gold producer in Azerbaijan.Ellada Khankishiyeva, RL http://en.trend.az/capital/analytical/2134292.html “China buys gold, Azerbaijan wins Trend News Agency, 1 Apr 2013, Accessed 14 May 2013 Ownership interests in the company are held by the President and

First Lady of Azerbaijan First Lady of Azerbaijan () is the informal title of the wife of the president of Azerbaijan. The current first lady is Mehriban Aliyeva, wife of President Ilham Aliyev, who has held the position since 31 October 2003. First ladies of Azerbaija ...

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev (born 24 December 1961) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He is also the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005. The son and second child of former Aze ...

and

Mehriban Aliyeva Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the Vice President of Azerbaijan, vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan, First Lady of Azerbaijan. She is married to Ilham Aliyev, the pre ...

.Nushaba Fatullayeva and

Khadija Ismayilova Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova (, ; born 27 May 1976), alternatively spelled Ismailova, is an Azerbaijani investigative journalist and radio host who is currently working for the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, until re ...

“Azerbaijan's first family strikes gold under cover”
, ''Asia Times Online'', 10 May 2012, Accessed 14 May 2013 The company is located at 49/s, Tbilisi Ave, Chiraq Plaza, 5th Floor,

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

AZ1065.

Chovdar mine

According to ''

Asia Times Online ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

'', the Azerbaijani government gave AIMROC the rights to develop the Chovdar gold field and five other sites in Azerbaijan. The government gave AIMROC a 70 percent stake in a gold field near Chovdar. The government itself owns the other 30 percent.Katherin Machalek
“Corruptistan”
Freedom House, 7 Sep 2012, Accessed 14 May 2013 AIMROC sold the first bar of gold from the Chovdar mine at the end of 2012. AIMROC is predicted to be in full production in 2013.

Trend News Agency Trend News Agency () is an Azerbaijani news agency which focuses on current affairs in the Caucasus region and Central Asia. The agency is pro-government. History Founded in 1995 as a private media outlet in Azerbaijan, Trend News Agency is a n ...

quoted Mustafa Mammadov, AIMROC’s Director for Sustainable Development and Strategic Planning, as saying that the company plans to mine in Chovdar for 8 to 10 years.

Ownership

AIMROC owns seventy-percent of the Chovdar mine. Four companies own AIMROC, Londex Resources SA, Globex International, Willy and Meyris, Fargate Mining Corporatio

One of those companies is called Globex International. Globex’s stake in AIMROC is worth areound $200 million U.S. dollars. According to ''

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

'' (RFE/RL), “A fifth company -- Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co Ltd (MINDECO), a mining-engineering company owned by Japan's Mitsui Mining and Smelting Company -- is listed as the official project supervisor, but has no ownership.”Nushaba Fatullayeva, Khadija Ismayilova
“Azerbaijani Government Awarded Gold-Field Rights To President's Family”
''Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty'', 3 May 2012, Accessed 14 May 2013 According to ''Asia Times Online'', Globex International is owned by three holding companies in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Those three holding companies all list President Aliyev and First Lady Aliyeva’s two daughters

Leyla Aliyeva Leyla Ilham gizi Aliyeva (, born 3 July 1984) is an Azerbaijani politician who is a member of Azerbaijan's ruling Aliyev family, as the daughter of the current president, Ilham Aliyev, and granddaughter of the former president, Heydar Aliyev. A ...

and Arzu Aliyeva as senior managers. ''Asia Times Online'' also reported that President Aliyev’s office “refused to answer questions about his family’s business interests in the gold fields” and that the president’s spokesman did not return emails and calls for comment. According to a report published by

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, Azerbaijani law prohibits government officials, including the president, from owning businesses, but there are no such restrictions on family members. The Azerbaijani Environment Ministry has estimated that the Chovdar mine contains around $2.5 billion worth of gold and silver.

Resources

{{reflist Gold mining companies of Azerbaijan