The name "Oil Mafia" has been given to the powerful collection of organized crime figures, businessmen, and government officials who control oil production in and around the Caspian Sea. Mainly active in the former Soviet Republics of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the Oil Mafia has been the primary beneficiary of post-Soviet era capitalist reforms. As Western funds have poured into the two countries to develop the area's immense oil fields, corruption has mounted at all levels of the government. Some local criminal leaders have amassed personal fortunes in the hundreds of millions of dollars, putting them effectively beyond the reach of any governmental authority.
Samed Vezirzade is a leader of the oil mafia in Azerbaijan.
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