Tale Heydarov is the eldest son of Kamaladdin Heydarov, Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister. Tale and his younger brother Nijat are business partners of Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva, having owned lucrative stakes in key Azerbaijani businesses and high-value foreign investments alongside the sisters.
Tale and Nijat’s main asset is Gilan Holding LLC, a major Azerbaijani conglomerate for which Tale Heydarov is the chairman.[684] [866] Gilan Holding has interests in construction, tourism, agriculture, logistics, consumer goods, sports clubs, and stadiums.[684] For many years, Gilan Holding was believed to be exclusively linked to the Heydarov family.[686] However, reporters from the Daphne Project discovered that Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva held a controlling stake.[665] In 2013, Gilan Holding was owned by two Dubai registered entities: Sahra FZCO (51%) and Shams Al Sahra FZCO (49%).[665] The former is owned by Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva,[5] while the latter was owned by Tale and Nijat Heydarov.[8] As of 2023, Shams Al Sahra FZCO is still owned by Tale Heydarov, alongside Manouchehr Khangah.[8]
Shams Al Sahra is the vehicle through which Tale and Nijat Heydarov acquired and developed property in Dubai in partnership with the Aliyeva sisters. Their properties include the five-star Sofitel hotel and spa,[341] located on the Emirates’ man-made Palm Jumeirah islands.[1263] The Dubai company used by the Heydarov brothers and Aliyeva sisters for the hotel’s development, Sofitel The Palm Hotel and Spa FZCO, obtained financing from Emirates NBD,[341] a Dubai government-controlled bank.[348] [621] The Heydarov brothers have also acquired—in their own names—nine Palm Jumeirah mansions worth approximately $33 million, according to an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[517]
Tale and Nijat held accounts at Malta’s Pilatus Bank, many of which linked back to a complicated network of offshore companies. The bank was shuttered in 2018 over systemic failures to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.[665] [517] [341] [11] [341]
Tale Heydarov did not respond to The Sentry’s request for comment.
