Gen Ilac opens AZN 113.9m drug plant in Azerbaijan's Pirallahi park
Gen Pharma Caucasus, a Turkish-Azerbaijani joint venture led by Gen Ilac, opened a 60-million-box-a-year drug plant in Pirallahi Industrial Park.
Opening
The pharmaceutical plant of Gen Pharma Caucasus Manufacturing Operations LLC, the Azerbaijani joint venture of Turkish drugmaker GEN Ilac ve Saglik Urunleri, opened on 5 October 2026 in Pirallahi Industrial Park near Baku, with President Ilham Aliyev in attendance. Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov briefed the President on the industrial zones, and founder and GEN board chairman Abidin Gulmus presented the plant. Construction began with a groundbreaking on 7 December 2023, so this is an operating production facility, not a memorandum or a plan. In its KAP disclosure, GEN described it as Azerbaijan’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.
Partners
According to official Azerbaijani sources, GEN Ilac ve Saglik Urunleri Sanayi A.S. holds 66% of the company, the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy holds 29%, and Turkish company SIA Pharmaceuticals holds 5%. The partnership began with a partnership and joint participation agreement signed on 31 July 2023 between GEN and the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC); GEN’s KAP disclosure also names AIC as its partner. The company received resident status in Pirallahi Industrial Park in 2023.
Investment
The total project value is AZN 113.9 million, financed through private investment, AZN 13.2 million from the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund and AZN 10 million in concessional loans. Interfax put the figure at about USD 67 million at the 5 October rate of AZN 1.70 per dollar. As a park resident, the company is exempt from more than AZN 7 million in VAT and customs duties. The project grew from its original plan: at the December 2023 groundbreaking the investment was given as AZN 59.3 million, with 165 jobs.
Capacity and jobs
The plant occupies 5.2 hectares and has an annual capacity of 60 million boxes of medicines, including 2.5 billion tablets and capsules. It provides 178 permanent jobs. Its equipment comes from manufacturers in the US, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, China, Denmark, Sweden and Turkiye. The site is also planned as an official training base for Karabakh University and Azerbaijan Medical University.
Medicines produced
According to official statements, the plant will make cardiology, neurology, urology, diabetology and gastroenterology medicines, as well as painkillers and antibiotics. The company aims to localise production of more than 500 medicines within five years, and Turkish media reported a target of 50 medicines in production by 2027. A product-by-product list has not been published. The Azerbaijan page on GEN’s website (27 products in a June 2025 archive snapshot) shows products the company lists for that country; it is not the plant’s production list.
Market and exports
General Director Farid Aliyev said the primary focus is the domestic market, meeting local demand as fully as possible. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Georgia are named as export destinations. Pirallahi Industrial Park was set up by presidential decree in 2016 to develop the pharmaceutical industry and reduce import dependence; six residents are registered there. At CSC, we are closely following these developments in the Azerbaijani market.
Source: APA (05.10.2026); Trend (05.10.2026); Report.az (05.10.2026); AZERTAC (05.10.2026); Borsagundem, GEN Ilac KAP disclosure (05.10.2026); Interfax (06.10.2026); DHA (06.10.2026); Anadolu Agency / Daily Sabah (07.12.2023); Trend (07.12.2023); State Tax Service of Azerbaijan, taxes.gov.az (31.07.2023); genilac.com.tr Azerbaijan product page, Internet Archive snapshot (21.06.2025).