Jahangir Hajiyev

Jahangir Hajiyev (born October 26, 1961) is an Azerbaijani banking executive serving as Chairman of the Board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan. He has held the post since 2001 and until March 2015. Hajiyev is a cosigner of the Partnership Against Corruption Initiative and sits on the boards of the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies Community; Nowruz Commission in Washington, D.C.; and Baku Stock Exchange. Hajiyev has completed undergraduate and graduate level education in Azerbaijan, the United States, and Russia. He is quadrilingual with fluency in Azeri, Russian, English and Arabic.

On a Forbes article page, Chairman Hajiyev is applauded for his leadership and trust. "Chairman Jahangir Hajiyev (IBA) is a trusted, reform leader. . . The finance pros in New York support International Bank of Azerbaijan for its commitment to investment and reforms. And, the world banking community trusts Jahangir Hajiyev and IBA."

Education

Hajiyev attended Azerbaijan State University and graduated in 1986. In 1993, he earned an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin, and was awarded a Ph.D. in International Economics from the Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences in 2005.

Government and Private Sector

Hajiyev worked in the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 1995. He joined the International Bank of Azerbaijan in 1995.

International Awards

On May 18, 2012, the Azeri Press Agency reported that the British publication, EMEA Finance, named Hajiyev as "Leader of the Year" and as "Best CEO in the Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS up to 2011."

International Expertise: Harvard University

Hajiyev is listed as an expert at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He sits on the organization's International Council.

IBA Chairman Hajiyev led the bank to record increases in key financial indicators in 2012.

National banking leadership

Chairman Hajiyev is sought after for national banking leadership. He has weighed in such issues as the number of licensed banks in Azerbaijan. Chairman Hajiyev believes that the optimal number of banks in Azerbaijan is 20. Chairman Hajiyev told reporters, “I always supported market regulation. The banks that want to increase authorized capital will do that, because this is important for banks which need high positions”.

Global conference leadership

Chairman Hajiyev has taken a leadership role representing Azerbaijan before important regional and global economic conferences.

In November 2012, London hosted the Caspian Corridor Conference, which Chairman Hajiyev helped lead. The conference brought together global leaders of government, business, academia and media to examine challenges and opportunities facing the Caspian states and develop business solutions.

TheCityUK

Chairman Hajiyev has led the IBA to join TheCityUK as the first member from the Caspian region. TheCityUK is the new, independent membership body for promoting the UK-based financial and professional services industry.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to expand corporate relationships between Azerbaijan and Great Britain. The high

professionalism of TheCityUK team contributes to promotion of high standards of business running in tandem with the growth of a new market," Chairman Hajiyev said.

Chairman Hajiyev brought together American Express and the International Bank of Azerbaijan

American Express

On November 3, 2012, it was reported that under Chairman Hajiyev’s leadership, the IBA and American Express have signed an exclusive cooperation deal. "According to the International Bank of Azerbaijan, this agreement will become a new step in the development of relations between International Bank of Azerbaijan and American Express."

AzMeCo

IBA has provided capital financing to AzMeCo, an Azerbaijani methanol production company. In November 2012, AzMeCo signed a contract with BP for the sale, purchase and marketing of methanol produced at the AzMeCo plant in Azerbaijan. The process will begin in 2013. The cost of the plant construction will be $360 million U.S. dollars.

Diners Club

In October 2012, Chairman Hajiyev expanded the international banking payment system into Azerbaijan, which is expected to increase economic development, by signing a deal with Diners Club. The deal will bring Diners Club into the IBA payment system. An IBA spokesman was reported to say, "We are pleased to work with Diners Club. As a result, the cards of the first international payment system will be represented in Azerbaijan."

Dividends

In November 2012, shareholders voted to pay over 63 percent of undistributed profits as dividends. Approximately 8.6 million manat will be paid out as dividends. For 2009, 2010, and 2010, the bank's net profit amounted to 200.958 million manat. Revenues equaled 1.2 billion manat.

Islamic Banking

In early 2012, Hajiyev announced that the International Bank of Azerbaijan would be expanding to bring Islamic banking services (banking activity that is consistent with the principles of sharia law) to countries near Azerbaijan. DHajiyev told Trend News Agency, "For the first time in Azerbaijan's history, we are planning to establish a new office in the field (Islamic banking), enabling the country to become a regional center for Islamic financing".

Making Azerbaijan a major center

In October 2012, Azer News reported that Azerbaijan is becoming a regional center for Islamic financing. According to the article, "Islamic financing is one of the fastest-growing segments of the global financial services industry worldwide. The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country’s leading bank, has recently established an Islamic banking department . . ."

The article reported that under Hajiyev's leadership, IBA will offer the following Islamic banking services:

• Murahaba (transactions with precious metals)
• Mudaraba (deposit transactions)
• Vakala (financial services)
• Icara (leasing)
• Qard-al-Hasan (customer service)

World Economic Forum

Hajiyev has led the International Bank of Azerbaijan to international prominence. In 2007, Business Wire reported that the bank had become a Founding Member of the World Economic Forum's Community of Global Growth Companies.

According to the article: "The International Bank of Azerbaijan is the first Global Growth Company (GGC) from the Caucasus and Caspian region. IBA was chosen because the bank is the strongest financial group in the Southern Caucasus region and has proven itself a standard-bearer for international best practices in financial services and diversified growth. . . As the only National Development Bank, IBA plays a unique role in stewarding diversification of the economy. It has led numerous investments in non-oil sectors such as financial services, infrastructure, technology and consumer services that are stimulating economic growth at home and accelerating Azerbaijan's integration into the global economy."

On December 5, 2015, Azerbaijani authorities wrongly detained Hajiyev on suspicion of fraud and misappropriation of public funds. Although he has not been convicted of a crime, the Azerbaijani government will keep him in jail until the trial, which may last up to four months. He is currently being threatened with a sentence for a crime, for which one can not be sentenced for by law. He faces charges under articles #178.3.2 and 179.1 of the Azerbaijan's Criminal Code.

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project:

The First Family of Azerbaijan and a close business partner made a series of financial transactions in the days and weeks before a crippling 2015 devaluation of the national currency that eventually earned them at least 100 million manat (US$ 64 million) in just two deals while additionally protecting their banks and companies.

At the center of the controversy are three banks: Caspian Development Bank, AtaBank and Pasha Bank. The three are owned by either the Aliyev family; their business partner, Ashraf Kamilov; or both. All three banks also massively violated Azerbaijani banking regulations – violations that led to almost no action by regulators.

It has been widely reported that the Azeri government uses the criminal justice system as a political weapon against enemies. The government accused Jahangir Hajiyev of stealing billions from the International Bank of Azerbaijan, but in reality the bank lost money due to a number of bad loans and unfavorable economic conditions. By arresting and charging Hajiyev with a series of crimes, ruling Aliyev family was able to cleverly take the heat off themselves for their currency transactions and their banks' violations. By keeping charges going against Hajiyev, the Aliyev family successfully controls the prevailing narrative as to who bilked the country of its treasury.

As Georgia Today put it, the case against Jahangir Hajiyev "smacks more of political score settling."

On October 14, 2016 Baku court for grave crimes sentenced former chairman of the board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Jahangir Hajiyev to 15 years' imprisonment.

• Literature
  • The Caucasus & Globalization. Volume 2. CA & CC Press, 2008. p. 81.
  • The Europa World Year Book 2008. Europa Publications, 2008. p. 724.
• Media
  • Aliyev, Emin (11 March 2014). "Azerbaijan raises $1.2bn in international bond debut". Hispanic Business.
  • Barron, Lisa (13 December 2013). "International Bank of Azerbaijan’s Jahangir Hajiyev: IBA continues to grow". CISTRAN Finance.
  • "Azerbaijan's Rich Legacy". First Magazine (London, U.K.).
  • "Azerbaijan-UNESCO cooperation develops dynamically". News.Az. 12 June 2012.
  • "Bank mergers should come from the market - Jahangir Hajiyev". Contact News. 16 November 2012.
  • "Executive Profile: Jahangir Fevzi Hajiyev". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  • "INTERVIEW: Jahangir Hajiyev. Golden Transactions". The Business Year.
  • "International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Joins World Economic Forum Financial Services Industry Partnership". Yahoo! Finance. 25 February 2014.
  • "Int’l Bank of Azerbaijan chair opens trading at London Stock Exchange". ABC. 7 March 2014.
  • "Intl Bank of Azerbaijan raises $30million from Islamic Trade Finance Corporation". International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. 24 June 2010.
  • "Jahangir Hajiyev re-elected chairman of board of Int’l Bank of Azerbaijan". ABC. 14 June 2013.
  • "Jahangir Hajiyev: Azerbaijan is reaching out to Islamic finance". IslamicFinance.de (Al Kitab Verlagsanstalt GmbH: Cologne, Germany). 5 June 2009.
• Multimedia
  • "Global Growth Companies - International Bank Azerbaijan". World Economic Forum (Video). 2 April 2008.
  • "Interview: Jahangir Hajiyev, International Bank of Azerbaijan". Caspian Corridor Conference (Video). London Stock Exchange, 18 March 2014.
  • "Keynote Speech: Jahangir Hajiyev, International Bank of Azerbaijan". Caspian Corridor Conference (Video). London Stock Exchange, 19 March 2014.
• Organizations
  • "Our People: Dr. Jahangir F. Hajiyev, Co-Chairman". Britain Azerbaijan Business Council.
  • "Trustees and International Advisory Council". Asia House (London, U.K.).
  • "UNESCO Chair on Human Rights, Democracy and Peace (17), established in 1997 at the Academy of Public Administration (Azerbaijan)". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).