Unanimous vote sees ethnic Azerbaijani take helm of Dagestan's Derbent

Khanlar Pashabekov, an ethnic Azerbaijani and former Minister of Justice of the Republic of Dagestan, has been unanimously elected mayor of the city of Derbent.

According to the press service of the Derbent city administration, the city council members backed Pashabekov’s candidacy in a vote that also considered Rasim Kazakhmedov and Rasul Gadzhimusayev as contenders, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Before his election as mayor, Pashabekov had served as Dagestan’s Minister of Justice since 2022. His career also includes roles as a deputy in the republic’s People’s Assembly and as the head of Dagestan’s Ministry for State Property Management.

Following the resignation of former mayor Ahmed Kuliyev, Pashabekov was appointed acting head of Derbent on April 30 and formally introduced to the city hall staff in that capacity.

“The deputies unanimously elected Khanlar Edisonovich Pashabekov as the head of Derbent,” the city administration announced.

Pashabekov was born in 1976 in Derbent. He earned a degree in finance and credit from Dagestan State University in 1998 and graduated from the Institute of Finance and Law in 2001. Over the years, he served as a magistrate in Derbent’s judicial district No. 102, was elected to Dagestan’s People’s Assembly, headed the regional state property management ministry, and led the civil and judicial department of the Dagestani prosecutor’s office. He remained Minister of Justice until the end of April 2024.

By Tamilla Hasanova