March 22, 2024
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Crocus Сity Hall in the Moscow region, the scene of a deadly shooting and fire, is a plush concert venue where former US president Donald Trump once held a “Miss Universe” contest.
It is a short walk from a Moscow Metro station and just next to Moscow city ring road, although formally it is outside the city limits.
The complex that also includes a shopping centre and conference centre holds events such as car shows.
The relatively intimate concert venue has attracted a range of Russian and international stars.
British comedian-turned-politician Eddie Izzard performed a solo show in English there in 2013.
Piknik, who were set to perform Friday, are a popular rock group dating back to the Soviet era.
The venue was built by real estate developer Aras Agalarov, who is extremely well-known and influential in Russia and has links to Trump.
Agalarov, 68, was born in Azerbaijan but is a Russian citizen.
He was listed as worth $1.2 billion by Forbes in 2021. His company Crocus Group specialises in luxury retail and leisure developments.
Forbes Russia reported last week that Agalarov and his business partner and son, Emin Agalarov, had taken out personal loans to save the business, however.
The father and son came to the scene of the attack and fire on Friday night, Russian news agencies reported.
Emin Agalarov is also a pop singer and has given concerts at the venue. He is the former husband of a daughter of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
The Crocus City Hall venue opened in 2009 and was dedicated to Muslim Magomayev, a pop singer famous in the Soviet era who also came from Azerbaijan.
US entrepreneur Trump held the Miss Universe beauty contest there in 2013, telling media he had invited President Vladimir Putin, who did not show up.
Trump soon afterwards appeared in one of Emin Agalarov’s pop videos and his connection to the family became a matter of public interest a few years later when he stood for president against Hillary Clinton.
Emin Agalarov in June 2016 arranged for Donald Trump Jr, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chair Paul Manafort to meet a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who had offered damaging information on Clinton.
Agalarov told Britain’s The Daily Mail that the meeting which he helped set up at his father’s request was “unproductive and useless”, however.
bur/imm
© Agence France-Presse
Crocus Сity Hall in the Moscow region, the scene of a deadly shooting and fire, is a plush concert venue where former US president Donald Trump once held a “Miss Universe” contest.
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