Ilham Aliyev Denies His Officials

The Crystal Hall was built specifically for the Eurovision contest. This was admitted by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, speaking last week in Paris before the French members of the organization of industrialists MEDEF.

Recall that on the eve of Eurovision, when journalists and experts drew attention to the excessive costs of the contest in Azerbaijan, in contrast to other countries, the officials claimed the opposite. The Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said that the cost of the Eurovision totaled only 40 million manat.

As for the construction of the Crystal Hall, the construction of this palace and other facilities in Flag Square was planned in advance, he said.

And that's what President Ilham Aliyev said: "The biggest sports and concert hall - Crystal Hall was built exclusively for the Eurovision song contest. We had very little time, and it was built in 9 months. It is a beautiful palace of sports with a capacity ranging from 17 to 20 thousand people."

Recall that the construction of the Crystal Hall cost more than 100 million manat. However, so far it is unclear which department manages the facility. Recently, the media reported on the transfer of the complex to private ownership.

However, this information was denied by the press secretary of the State Committee for Property Issues, Gulu Khalilov. "We built the palace in time, and its fate was decided at government level," Khalilov said, while stressing that there can be no question of the transfer of the complex to the private sector. -06D-