Early Life

God Nisanov was born in the early 1970s in Krasnaya Sloboda in Azerbaijan and was raised in the city of Quba. After completing his basic education, Nisanov enrolled at the College of Finance and Credit and furthered his education at the Baku Law Institute. Nisanov then began working for a local cannery that was run by his father before making the decision to move to Moscow where he entered the wholesale trade business with his friend and colleague Zarakh Iliev. Nisanov and Iliev launched Kievskaya Ploshchad LLC and made several local investments around Moscow as well as abroad in Abu Dhabi over the next few years. Nisanov now resides in Moscow with his family where he maintains a range of business interests and investments. He speaks seven additional languages including Persian, Turkish, and Arabic.

Significant Investments

The self-made billionaire has made several lucrative investments through Kievskaya Ploshchad LLC, mainly in the real estate market. Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev developed several shopping complexes in Moscow as well as a 120-hectare wholesale food distribution center called Food City. Nisanov invested an estimated USD 2 billion into the distribution center, which was built on Moscow’s largest agricultural area. The premises (formerly known as Lotus City Shopping Mall) was purchased for approximately USD 1 billion and about the same amount was reportedly spent to restructure it.

Nisanov also acquired an old tram station in Moscow and transformed it into a sprawling food mall with restaurants, markets, stores and entertainment areas. Although exact figures have not been made public, a significant amount of money has clearly been invested in it. Formerly known as Miussky Depot, the tram park was restored under the supervision of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow. Other significant investments include:

• Moskvarium, Europe’s largest oceanography and marine biology center
• The Evropeyskiy shopping center, one of the largest of its kind
• The Levyy Bereg shopping center, which is to be converted into Food City 2
• The Velozavodsky fresh produce market
• The Olympic Stadium featuring sports arenas, a planetarium, a cinema and other facilities
• The Flotilla Radisson Royal luxury river-boat company
• The Radisson Collection Hotel and its extensive art collection
• The Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel
• The Zarayadye gastronomic center located in Zarayadye Park
• A hotel complex in a UNESCO-protected area on Varvarka Street which will operate under the Raffles brand.
• A historical building called The Book, which will be converted into a hotel
• The South Gate international bus station
• The Schelkovo international bus station
• The Transport hub Nagatinskaya development,t which will include a transport hub and other facilities.

God Nisanov has been ranked by Forbes as one of the top Russian commercial real estate owners.

Nisanov has received several awards and honors. President Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship in 2014 in recognition of his great contribution to economic project implementation and investment fundraising for the Russian economy.

Latest News

In July 2019, the RBC Russian media group interviewed God Nisanov and spoke about asset management, political sponsorship, and the role children and family dynamics play in business. Nisanov also discussed future business developments, such as the Radisson Royal fleet of ships, the development of a technology park together with Chinese partners, and Ferrari World, which is a Ferrari theme park located in Abu Dhabi. In January 2019, Russia Business Today reported that Kievskaya Ploshchad, owned by God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev, was named Russia’s most successful commercial real estate company.