{"id":1111,"date":"2014-12-14T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2014-12-15T12:41:02","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T12:41:02","slug":"reopening-of-westminsters-popular-shepherds-restaurant-raises-uncomfortable-questions-over-links-to-azerbaijan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1111","title":{"rendered":"Reopening of Westminster’s popular Shepherd’s restaurant raises uncomfortable questions over links to Azerbaijan"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANDY ROWELL
\nThe Independent<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s favourite lunchtime haunt for MPs, journalists, lobbyists and spin doctors… but who exactly are its new owners?<\/p>\n

Famous as a crucible of political intrigue as much as for its steak and kidney pie, Shepherd\u2019s restaurant in Westminster \u2013 for years a habitual hang-out of ministers, journalists, lobbyists and spin doctors \u2013 reopened its doors last week after 18 months.<\/p>\n

\"Shepherd\u2019s<\/a>
Shepherd\u2019s restaurant in Westminster; the Home Office
Alex Lentati\/AFP\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it closed in March last year, The Spectator magazine lamented the \u201cend of an era for Westminster lunchers\u201d. Sky News\u2019s veteran correspondent Adam Boulton described it as \u201csad day\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lionel Zetter, veteran lobbyist, public affairs expert and now director of the revamped restaurant, said of the opening: \u201cWestminster is short of really good restaurants. Choice-wise, there is nothing that does really good \u2018British\u2019 food. I want to resurrect Shepherd\u2019s and take it back to its best: superb food, great service, an elegant ambience and a discreet environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But like any good spin-doctor, Mr Zetter only told half the story. An investigation by The Independent on Sunday has found that the restaurant is linked to one of the most powerful families in Azerbaijan, with connections to the country\u2019s ruthless President.<\/p>\n

Since last year, Mr Zetter has been a lobbyist for Azerbaijani interests as the director of The European Azerbaijan Society (Teas), which says it is \u201cdedicated to raising awareness of Azerbaijan and fostering closer economic, political and cultural links between that country and the nations of Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n

The president of Teas is Tale Heydarov, a billionaire playboy from one of the country\u2019s most influential families and son of Azerbaijan\u2019s Minister for Emergency Situations, Kamaladdin Heydarov.<\/p>\n

Leaked US government cables divulged via WikiLeaks note how some observers believe Kamaladdin Heydarov to be \u201ceven more powerful than the President himself\u201d. His department, nicknamed the Ministry of Everything Significant, even has its own paramilitary unit. One of the family firms is UEI Holdings, which describes Teas as an affiliate on its website. The two are both based at the same address: 15 Queen Anne\u2019s Gate in London.<\/p>\n

In May this year, Mr Zetter became the director of Shepherd\u2019s under the auspices of the Marsham Street restaurant company, named after the street the restaurant is located on. At the time, the other two directors were Chris Bond and David Pow, both of whom have links to UEI. Mr Bond became head of real estate at UEI Holdings in 2009. He now works for Qaya Real Estate, a business partner of UEI Real Estate and member of the UEI group. Mr Pow, a consultant to solicitors Monro Wright & Wasbrough, was a director of UEI Restaurants in 2010.<\/p>\n

The acquisition of Shepherd\u2019s by the Azerbaijanis is likely to cause concern to the country\u2019s critics, even if it is ignored by the British political elite. Azerbaijan is a courted by the West for its lucrative oil and gas reserves; it is just over 20 years since BP signed what was dubbed the \u201ccontract of the century\u201d to develop the country\u2019s vast oil reserves.<\/p>\n

But Azerbaijan has been criticised over human rights abuses and government corruption. In 2012, when it hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, critics warned of its \u201cdeteriorating human rights record\u201d.<\/p>\n

This month, Azerbaijan caused international outrage when it detained leading investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova. One of the last remaining independent voices in the country, she described the charges against her as being \u201cfabricated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Giorgi Gogia, of Human Rights Watch, said: \u201cAzerbaijan\u2019s international partners have expressed concern, but Ismayilova\u2019s arrest should be the last straw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lionel Zetter declined to respond to questions about the ownership of Shepherd\u2019s. Meanwhile, political and food critics alike speculate on whether plov, Azerbaijan\u2019s rice-broth national dish, will feature on its menu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ANDY ROWELL The Independent It’s favourite lunchtime haunt for MPs, journalists, lobbyists and spin doctors… but who exactly are its new owners? Famous as [more >>>]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}