The 15th anniversary of the Crocus City Mall was celebrated on November 8 in Moscow the same day as the 62nd birthday of Crocus Group President Aras Agalarov. This decision was very symbolic, because Agalarov devoted many years of his life to the construction of such facilities. But 'Crocus' takes a special place among them. Under this name Agalarov created his company in the "raucous 1990s." Then this stylish guy was not very different from his peers who decided to do business. However, in the future Agalarov became one of the few who managed not just earn a lot of money (it was not difficult in the early 1990's), but also to save his capital and, having become acquainted with influential businessmen, strengthen his positions in Russian business.
Agalarov was engaged in the organization of exhibitions, which brought him considerable profit, in construction business, he surprised the Moscow elite by the apartment house with the inscription 'House of Aras and Emin Agalarov'. The businessman has invested not just his soul in the construction of the Crocus City Mall, but also a lot of white Qaradag stone, specially brought from Baku. And then the best Shamakhi white stone masters created a miracle, the 15th anniversary of which was celebrated on November 8 by Russia's businessmen and bohemia.
Entrepreneurship sense, a willingness to take risk, diligence, foresight, ability to negotiate - this is the secret of Agalarov's success. Of course, he had not always been successful. At first, many were surprised by the buildings on the outskirts of Moscow, in which a multimillion-dollar fortune was invested; expensive goods of world famous boutiques, designed for very rich people. There was a time when 'Crocus' served as a museum, surprising with boutiques, which were not very successful back than, with a beautiful interior, goldfish in pools with emerald water. But over time, 'Crocus' became popular among Moscow citizens, and it was the work of restless Agalarov, who built multifunctional buildings in his gigantic complex one after another - exhibition halls, concert hall named after Muslim Magomayev, 'Vegas'. Now Aras Agalarov is going to delight residents of Moscow and Moscow region with new surprises, which became easier after construction of new metro stations near 'Crocus City'.
"We are developing our hypermarket chain 'Tvoi Dom'. We already have three 'Vegas' centers and we plan to build the fourth center, maybe the fifth. There is a big program for the development of Crocus, we plan to build two hotels - Marion, Holiday Inn - an office center and a residential building on its territory. In addition, we work in the framework of the state program - building stadiums and checkpoints at the border. There are many issues in which we are engaged quite successfully, as I believe," Alagarov said, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza.
He celebrated the 15th anniversary of 'Crocus' in a big way. The guests were treated by original dishes in the atmosphere of tropical jungle. The fancy dinner was accompanied by performances of brilliant French singer Patricia Kaas and British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Russian stars and celebrities of the world scale came to congratulate the birthday boy on a double holiday. The hospitable host welcomed a lot of guests personally. Tatiana Navka, Dmitry Peskov, Anna and Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, Natalia Chistyakova-Ionova, Katya Lel and many others were seen on the improvised red carpet.
The son of an entrepreneur, vice president of Crocus Group and singer Emin Agalarov told Vestnik Kavkaza about the Crocus City project's start: "Just 15 years ago I could not imagine that Crocus would be like that, only my father who planned all of it, designed and dreamed to bring it to such a level. He invented it back in the late 1990s, and we, his whole team, methodically worked every day to make it work. We have an unfinished part of the 'Crocus City' project - our mini-Manhattan - 14 skyscrapers of different focus and purpose. We finished our shopping areas - 'Crocus City Mall', 'Tvoi Dom' and 'Vegas' successfully operate. The Crocus Hall is a concert venue, the second is Vegas City Hall, which has a backstage and shore-house in summer. We plan to build a small theater. When we finish all this, we can consider the Crocus City project as a completed.
Araz Agalarov is the founder of the Musical Heritage Fund of Muslim Magomayev. A gala concert dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the singer was successfully held in the Kremlin recently. The Fund has a project of the street named after the legendary artist, as well as erecting a monument in the homeland of Muslim Magomayev, in Baku. "I recently returned from Baku, there was an evening dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Muslim Magomayev. I saw that new Baku has become even more beautiful than it was before. I even did not recognize some its places, but there were those places, where, I know, Muslim liked to walk around. So, I looked for a spot - and I found it. I will not say yet where is it, but according to the aura, thoughts, drama, this is the place where the monument should be erected," the widow of Muslim Magomayev, opera singer Tamara Sinyavskaya said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kakaza.
French actor Samy Naceri joined the congratulations. A few years ago, Luc Besson's Taxi star visited Baku to present the music video of the Azerbaijani singer and said that he may visit it again.
In 2016, Emin Agalarov, together with Sergei Kozhevnikov and Grigory Leps, held the first 'Zhara' festival in Baku, which has become annual. The musical holiday became a real gift for the Baku people. "It's a number one festival today, no matter what anyone says. If someone doubts it, he can just come here and see it with his own eyes, see how everything is presented, what kind of people work here and how they work, how they greet you, how they see off. I would say that this is a world-class festival, or at least close to it," Russian singer Grigory Leps told Vestnik Kavkaza. In 2018, the organizers promise to make the festival even more memorable.
