Telman Ismailov is a successful businessman and talented manager. Its assets are concentrated in a variety of industries and spheres, united under one name - the AST group of companies.
Becoming a businessman
Telman was born in 1956 in Baku. In the large Azerbaijani family of Mardan and Peri Ismailov, he was the tenth child. Everybody knew Father Thalmann as a large workshop worker. From childhood, the boy inherited a parental entrepreneurial streak. At the age of 14, he already traded with his father, and having matured, he headed the first commercial store in the city. To get a theoretical basis for his business, the young man entered the National Economic Institute. After serving in the army, he transferred to the Moscow Plekhanov Institute. Having received his education, the graduate was able to get a job as an economist in the trade ministry.
AST Group
Several years later he opened his own business - he registered the group of companies "AST", which became a family business. The creation of this large enterprise two years earlier was preceded by the opening of a commercial cooperative. During the Perestroika era, many entrepreneurs started trading in clothing and various goods. The cooperative did not bring much profit, but it helped the aspiring businessman to get very useful acquaintances with the future mayor Yuri Luzhkov and his wife, who head the asset of the capital's commission on cooperative activities. 1989 is considered the date of birth of "AST". At different times, there were about thirty groups. Not all areas of this association were able to exist for a long time, some went bankrupt and closed. The income from work is distributed evenly between the founder, his two sons and his nephew. Even the name "AST" itself consists of the first letters of the names of the businessman and his sons: Alekper-Sarkhan-Telman. The company's field of activity is very diverse. "AST-tour" functions as a travel company, and "AST-gof" is a complex of hotels. There are groups working in the field of restaurants, representing "AST" in the printing industry, construction, jewelry industry ("AST-gold"), transportation ("AST-Trans-Service") and even dentistry. The center of the company's capital is: the capital's Cherkizovsky market, the Prague restaurant in the center of the capital and the Voentorg department store.
Business in Turkey
In the spring of 2009, Ismailov completed the construction of a resort and hotel complex in Antalya, which, according to experts, became the most expensive in Europe. The opening brought together star guests from all over the world. The hotel, which cost almost a billion dollars, was named after his father Mardan by the owner. On the opening day, it could have celebrated its centenary. When the enterprise started working, Ismailov turned to the Turkish side with a request for a second citizenship, and soon received it. A few years later, the hotel began to face financial difficulties, and 67 lawsuits were filed in connection with its debts. For half of the cost at the auction, the main asset of the businessman was bought by the largest Turkish bank.
Bankruptcy
At the peak of his financial success, the businessman's fortune was estimated at a billion dollars. His last name was one of the hundred richest people in the country. But all this was a few years ago. Since 2015, Telman Ismailov has become a defendant in several cases on declaring him bankrupt. It was a rare case when a person with such a high level of income filed for bankruptcy. After the positive completion of the procedure, the sale of his property began.
Personal life
Personal life can be called the most stable side of an entrepreneur's biography. Together with his wife Samira, they raised two sons who replaced their father in his business. Thälmann's entourage got used to his generosity, he presented many of his friends with expensive gifts: jewelry, watches, and once even presented a villa. Among his acquaintances there are many famous people, famous politicians, stars of show business. But the businessman from Azerbaijan considers his main hobby to be a collection of watches, which he has been collecting for many years. It is the pride of the entrepreneur and has about two thousand exhibits.
Recently, while the property of the AST group company is being auctioned off, Telman Ismailov's name appears in yet another scandalous case involving the murder of two Moscow entrepreneurs. How a businessman lives today is hard to say. At the moment he is abroad and his exact whereabouts are unknown, and the former owner of Cherkizon is put on the international wanted list.
