Artur Rasizade

[1] Thomas de Waal writes of Rasizade's tenure that he "had no political influence", "was unknown outside the country" and his "departure barely merited any commentary.

In 1952, Artur Rasizade graduated from the Secondary school № 4 (Lankaran), and in 1957 he finished his studies at Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University.

From 1986 to 1992, he was the first vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR, supervising energy, mechanical engineering, defense, oil and chemical industries.

On 4 August 2003, he was relieved of his post to make way for Aliyev's son Ilham and was instead appointed as first deputy prime minister.

On 28 June 2006, Rasizade was awarded with Istiglal Order (Azerbaijani: Istiqlal ordeni) for his contributions to economic development of Azerbaijan by President Ilham Aliyev .

On 25 February 2015, Rasizade was given Shohrat Order (Azerbaijani: Şöhrət ordeni) for his special contributions to economic, scientific, social and cultural development.

Rasizade with Dmitry Medvedev .