Igor Ashurbeyli - a great Russian defense worker and entrepreneur

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Igor Ashurbeyli, scientist, businessman, public figure, philanthropist.

Date of birth: 1963-09-09.

Birthplace: Baku (Azerbaijan).

The paternal ancestor of Igor Ashurbeyli was Ashur Khan Afshar, Minister of War (Sardar) of Azerbaijan (mid-18th century). Shah of Iran, Nadir Shah Afshar, who was his cousin, granted Ashur Khan vast land on the outskirts of Baku. The descendants of the khan, who received a title of nobility from the tsar and took the surname Ashurbekov, went down in the history of the Russian Empire as successful oilmen and generous patrons. The revolution put an end to prosperity. The power of the Soviets took everything they could from the family - land, houses, enterprises, businesses. Many emigrated, others decided at their own peril and risk to stay. In order to avoid conspicuous noble origin, the heads of families got rid of the basis "bek" in their surname (from the Turkic "bek" is translated as "ruler, prince, lord"). So the Ashurbekovs turned into Ashurbeyli. But it still did not save from repression. They perished in the Stalinist dungeonsalong with other representatives of the ancient family, great-grandfather and grandfather of Igor Ashurbeyli.

On the mother's side, Igor Ashurbeyli's ancestors were Nizhny Novgorod peasants. Even before the revolution, his great-grandfather Grigory Rezanov began to visit Azerbaijan to work (he was a bricklayer by profession). And when he found a permanent job in Baku, he moved his family there as well. In 1919 Grigory joined the Bolshevik Party. After returning from the Red Army, Rezanov began to make a party career, while simultaneously being engaged in consumer cooperation.

Igor Ashurbeyli's parents grew up in neighboring houses and knew each other since childhood. Rauf and Elizabeth got married in 1962. And on September 9, 1963, the first and only child appeared in the family. “This kid has a great future, believe me!” - the doctor who delivered the baby said to the happy mother. Her words were prophetic.

After the birth of Igor, Elizaveta devoted herself entirely to his upbringing. And only when the boy grew up, the woman decided to go back to work - at the Institute of Space Research, where she held the position of metrology engineer. The boy's father, Rauf Davudovich, devoted himself to science. His professional destiny was connected with the Azerbaijan Institute of Petrochemical Processes.

One of the most significant people for Igor Ashurbeyli was his maternal grandmother - Evgenia Grigoryevna. She baptized the boy in secret from everyone in the Pyatigorsk Church of the Mother of God.

Since childhood, Igor Ashurbeyli was attracted to games where you need to think strategically. At first, soldiers were his favorite pastime, later he switched to chess. The boy did not cause any particular trouble to his parents. He was obedient, quickly learned to read and could sit with an interesting book all day. But already at that time his desire for leadership was manifested. If he got an A at school, not an A, he would cry. No wonder Igor Ashurbeyli became a gold medalist.

In the summer of 1980, a young man was enrolled in the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry. There was a huge competition for the faculty of automation of production processes that interested him, but Igor Ashurbeyli brilliantly coped with the examination tests. Training was easy for Ashurbeyli. In his free time, he worked as a laboratory assistant at his alma mater, and during his summer holidays he traveled with a construction team around the cities and towns of the USSR.

In 1983, Igor Ashurbeyli married his classmate Victoria. And in 1984, the young couple had a son, Ruslan. The year 1985 was marked by the successful defense of the diploma, but Ashurbeyli was not going to break with science. In 1987, a graduate systems engineer entered the graduate school of his native university. Looking ahead, let's say that the defense of the candidate took place a few years later, in 1992.

In the late 1980s, the country was on the rise. Perestroika opened up many hitherto unseen opportunities for Soviet citizens. One of them is the law on cooperation. In 1988, Igor Ashurbeyli established a cooperative called Sotsium. Then he initiated the creation of the Association of Scientific, Industrial and Technical Enterprises of Azerbaijan, becoming the head of the organization.

In 1991, Igor Ashurbeyli launches two more new projects - a commodity exchange in Baku and the "International Exchange of Information and Telecommunications" in Moscow. Igor Ashurbeyli characterizes this time as a “breakthrough period”. Then he moved to live in Russia.

Igor Ashurbeyli got into the defense industry by chance. His company rented an office on the territory owned by NPO Almaz. The leadership of the defense giant noticed a young businessman who felt like a fish in water in market conditions and showed remarkable organizational skills. “Here is the best candidate for the role of anti-crisis manager!” - thought the leaders of the enterprise and went to the negotiations. Igor Ashurbeyli considered the offer flattering, albeit unexpected, and, on reflection, agreed to this “adventure”. I thought that I came to Almaz for only six months. But six months stretched into 17 years.

With the help of Igor Ashurbeyli, it was possible not only to pull the enterprise out of the debt hole, but also to start the process of its transformation. In 2000, Igor Ashurbeyli became the head of Almaz Central Design Bureau OJSC. Under his leadership, Almaz entered the arms market with new developments. The enterprise actively worked with state defense orders; there was a modernization of old anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes; a new generation of weapons for air defense and missile defense was created. "Almaz" began to supply air defense systems for export. A competent economic policy led to an increase in the profit of the enterprise, an increase in wages and social benefits. The company flourished. One of the merits of Ashurbeyli is the accession to the enterprise of several leadingdevelopers of weapons for different types of troops.

Igor Ashurbeyli continued to implement other interesting projects. In 2003, he created and headed the WEC on aerospace defense issues, in 2006 he established the Military Industrial Company (VPK) CJSC, and engaged in publishing activities.

In 2011, Igor Ashurbeyli was removed from the post of General Director of Almaz. After resigning, he had time to defend his doctoral dissertation, which he did in the same year.

Today Igor Ashurbeyli continues to lead an active social life, publishes magazines, helps to restore churches. His company Sotsium has grown over a quarter of a century into a diversified holding.

The new grandiose project of Igor Ashurbeyli is connected with space, more precisely with the first space state in the history of the planet, Asgardia, which Igor Raufovich founded in the fall of 2016.

Once Igor Ashurbeyli answered the question, what is the basis for his impeccable reputation in business. Firstly, a person should not promise anything superfluous, and secondly, one must always fulfill what he promised. Ashurbeyli strictly follows these principles in both professional and personal life.