Politics
Inside the $60 Million Business Network of Baylar Eyyubov’s Brother
Authors: Mikroskop Media and Meydan TV
A five-star hotel located on the banks of the Vltava River, which divides Prague in two, promises guests a unique city view, as advertised. With views of Prague Castle from its rooms, this hotel has been operating since the 1990s.
“The most modern design, maximum comfort, an excellent location, and a breathtaking view…” is how the company managing the hotel describes it on their website.
The 2015 change in ownership was significant enough to draw interest from Czech journalists.
“Real estate in the Czech Republic is a safe haven for Russian investors, especially in cities like Prague and Karlovy Vary. Among them is Russian billionaire Rafig Hasanov, who purchased and owns the President Hotel,” reported local media in 2022.
Although introduced as a Russian businessman, Rafig Hasanov has deep ties to Azerbaijan. Journalistic investigations revealed that despite different surnames, Rafig Hasanov is the brother of Baylar Eyyubov, head of Azerbaijan’s Security Service. He is known by the surname Eyyubov in Azerbaijani society, but like other members of the Eyyubov family, his official surname in documents is Hasanov.
An investigation by Mikroskop Media and Meydan TV also revealed that the President Hotel is only a small part of Rafig Hasanov’s wealth empire. In addition to the hotel, he owns properties and businesses worth approximately $51 million (around 86.7 million AZN) in the Czech Republic, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
This includes a golf resort in Karlovy Vary and at least four luxury villas in Dubai.
In Russia, until 2022, he owned assets and businesses valued at $9 million (about 15 million AZN), including an 18th-century registered cultural heritage mansion in Moscow. As of a 2020 report, a French restaurant called “Parisienne” has operated there since 2003, with a listed sale price of over $2 million. Hasanov also owns other properties and apartments in various parts of Moscow.
Due to restrictions on the Russian registry, it’s unclear whether he still owns those properties.
The source of this multi-million-dollar fortune raises serious questions.
Rafig Hasanov has not responded to journalists’ inquiries regarding the origin of the funds used to acquire his businesses and properties.
What does Rafig Hasanov do in Azerbaijan?
There’s limited publicly available information about Hasanov’s business activities in Azerbaijan. The general’s brother’s only known business in the country is “Vinagro” LLC. This company is the main shareholder of the Goygol Wine Factory, owning 99.98% of the factory’s shares. According to the company website, Rafig Hasanov is the 100% shareholder of Vinagro.
Although journalists could find only limited public information about Hasanov and his businesses, the Eyyubov family’s Georgian associate Lasha Papashvili described him as a wealthy businessman.
“He is a very rich businessman and one of the biggest players in Azerbaijan’s real estate and tourism sectors,” Papashvili said, adding that Hasanov is also a major producer of alcoholic and soft drinks.
Journalists previously revealed the Eyubov-Papashvili partnership. A 2023 investigation showed the Eyubov family co-owned a hotel in Georgia through this partnership.
Another Azerbaijani-registered company linked to Hasanov is “Polymer Investments” LLC. According to a 2019 state media report, this company owned a 5% stake in the state-owned “SOCAR Polymer,” which produces polypropylene and high-density polyethylene. (Polypropylene is a synthetic white or colorless transparent solid fiber used to make pipes, films, etc. Polyethylene is a synthetic material.) Since “SOCAR Polymer”’s published financial reports do not disclose information about its shares, journalists have been unable to determine how the stake of “Polymer Investments” LLC has changed in the following years.
According to the State Tax Service’s commercial registry, Rafig Hasanov remains the legal representative of Polymer Investments LLC. However, since information about company owners and shareholders is not publicly available in Azerbaijan, it has not been possible to determine who founded and owns this company, or whether it belongs to Rafig Hasanov.
In 2019, President Ilham Aliyev awarded Hasanov the “Progress” medal for his entrepreneurial activity, based on a decree recognizing outstanding figures in business.
How did journalists confirm they are brothers?
Rafig Hasanov was born on October 25, 1967. Azerbaijani media has previously referred to him as Baylar Eyyubov’s brother, sometimes using the surname Eyyubov. But journalists discovered that, like other members of the Eyyubov family, his official surname is Hasanov in public records and electoral rolls.
Hasanov was once registered at the same address in Azerbaijan as Baylar Eyyubov’s sister, Gaze Hasanova. Journalists also found a social media post by Eyyubov’s nephew showing a photo of Rafig Hasanov and Baylar Eyyubov together.
Furthermore, documents from the non-profit investigative group C4ADS reveal that both brothers purchased similar villas side by side on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah in the same period. After January 2023, Baylar Eyyubov transferred his villa — with six bedrooms and a pool — to his brother. The property’s rental listing states the annual rent is $870,000.
Hasanov owns more than one property on Palm Jumeirah. He also holds two apartments and two penthouses in the exclusive “Shoreline Apartments” complex. These units feature 2-3 bedrooms, with two located on the 10th floor.
Another one-bedroom apartment is located in “Matrix Tower” in the Al Hebiah Fourth district. All of these properties, including those in Shoreline Apartments, are rented out. Some of Hasanov’s other purchased apartments in Dubai were part of the “Cube” and “Dubai Pearl North Tower” projects, totaling 15 units, though these projects were eventually cancelled.
Hasanov is also neighbors with Baylar Eyyubov’s family in London, via an offshore company.
After a 2022 UK law required offshore companies to disclose their real owners, an entity called “Nubax Holdings Ltd” listed Rafig Hasanov as its shareholder, confirmed via date of birth. UK land records show that Nubax Holdings Ltd owns a four-room apartment worth £950,000 on the fifth floor of Visage Apartments in London.
In the same building, Baylar Eyyubov’s daughter Elvira Eyyubova owns two penthouses and an apartment, all acquired through offshore structures and valued at several million dollars.
Elvira Eyyubova and other family members did not respond to journalists’ inquiries.
Businesses and Properties in the Czech Republic
Although Hasanov’s Azerbaijani business dealings are difficult to trace, records from 2011–2019 reveal significant assets in the Czech Republic worth approximately $44 million — about 74.8 million AZN at current rates.
According to obtained documents, the security chief’s brother spent €23.5 million (approx. 27 million AZN at the time) on the President Hotel in 2015. At the same time, Czech media presented him as a Russian businessman, due to his dual Azerbaijani-Russian citizenship.
Until 2022, Hasanov used his Russian citizenship to acquire assets in Russia and the Czech Republic. In Georgia, he preferred using his Azerbaijani passport. In 2022, he updated citizenship details in Czech company records to reflect his Azerbaijani nationality, likely in response to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The President Hotel also hosted multiple official events by Azerbaijan’s embassy in the Czech Republic. For instance, on May 11, 2023, a chess tournament and reception commemorating the 100th anniversary of late President Heydar Aliyev’s birth were held in the hotel’s conference hall. The event was organized by the Azerbaijani embassy and supported by the Czech Chess Federation.
In February that year, the same hotel hosted a memorial for the anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre. In previous years, the Azerbaijani embassy held events at the hotel commemorating Nizami Ganjavi’s 880th anniversary, Victory Day on November 8, Independence Day on May 28, and the 30th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy.
Golf tournaments co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation
Since 2014, Rafig Hasanov’s Czech golf resort “Golf Resort Cihelny” has hosted annual golf tournaments on Heydar Aliyev’s birthday. A total of seven tournaments were held up to 2022 (excluding 2020 and 2021).
These tournaments were sponsored by various organizations, including the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azerbaijan’s embassy in the Czech Republic, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, and others.
Despite multiple inquiries, neither Rafig Hasanov nor his associates have provided answers about the sources of funding for his wealth or whether Baylar Eyyubov played a role in acquiring the assets.
Authors: Mikroskop Media and Meydan TV – Collaboration with vlast.kz
The post Inside the $60 Million Business Network of Baylar Eyyubov’s Brother appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
On November 4, on Bashir Safaroglu Street in Baku, a person named Yasin Ibadov was stabbed and killed. It is reported that he was homosexual.
According to information obtained by Meydan TV, the incident was committed by the uncle of the murdered person.
The source stated that Yasin Ibadov was known by the name Ruzgar. He received numerous knife wounds and died at the scene. Witnesses noted that people around did not intervene in the incident and that the police arrived at the scene only after the person who committed the murder himself called. It is also alleged that doctors did not provide the injured person with the necessary medical assistance.
According to the information, the murdered person was from the Shamakhi district. He had lived in Turkey for a long time, but returned to Azerbaijan because his residence period had expired. According to allegations, Yasin Ibadov had been threatened by his cousin since the time he was in Turkey. The uncle who committed the murder had previously also been imprisoned.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident.
Azerbaijan has already been in last place for 9 years among 49 countries in the ILGA-Europe organization’s Rainbow Index on the protection of LGBTQI+ rights.
The Azerbaijani authorities, however, state that no individual’s rights are violated in the country.
Nevertheless, according to ILGA-Europe’s latest index, among 49 European countries, Azerbaijan shares the lowest indicators in the field of LGBTQI+ rights with Russia this year — both countries have a score of 2 percent.
The post LGBTQ+ individual killed by uncle in Baku appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
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Friday Wrap-up: Ramiz Mehdiyev placed under house arrest, new developments in the NGO case, and lawyer Zabil Qahramanov’s detention sparks concern
This week in Azerbaijan, former Presidential Administration head Ramiz Mehdiyev was placed under house arrest on treason charges, the ongoing “NGO case” drew renewed international criticism, and the arrest of lawyer Zabil Gahramanov reignited debate over pressure on the country’s legal profession.
Former Presidential Administration head Ramiz Mehdiyev placed under house arrest on treason charges
On October 14, Baku’s Sabail District Court ordered four months of house arrest for Ramiz Mehdiyev, former head of the Presidential Administration and ex-president of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. According to reports from government-aligned media, Mehdiyev is being prosecuted under Articles 278.1 (actions aimed at seizing state power), 274 (high treason), and 193-1.3.2 (money laundering in large amounts) of the Criminal Code. The investigation is being conducted by the State Security Service (DTX).
Mehdiyev, who served as presidential chief of staff from 1995 to 2019 and later led the National Academy of Sciences until 2022, is one of the most influential political figures in Azerbaijan’s modern history. Shortly after the court’s decision, pro-government outlets published a letter allegedly written by Mehdiyev calling for major reforms in Azerbaijan’s state administration. The letter’s authenticity has not been confirmed, and no official statement has been issued by the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Security Service, or the Presidential Administration.
Media reports indicate that up to 180 individuals have been questioned as part of the investigation, though their identities remain undisclosed. The same day, the DTX carried out an operation at the offices of Hurriyyet newspaper, Hurriyyet.az, and Hurriyyet TV, detaining editor-in-chief Vugar Mammadov and seizing equipment and documents. The operation is believed to be linked to the Mehdiyev case.
Meanwhile, jailed civic activist Bakhtiyar Haciyev remarked that Mehdiyev now faces the same charges once used against members of civil society. The investigation continues.
International criticism grows over Azerbaijan’s ongoing “NGO case”
The trial of civil society activists accused of financial crimes in Azerbaijan’s so-called “NGO case” continued this week, drawing strong criticism from international human rights organizations.
Among the defendants is civic activist Nargiz Mukhtarova, who faces charges of money laundering, abuse of power, and document forgery. Prosecutors allege that she and several others falsified project documents and laundered more than 150,000 manats in foreign grant money. Mukhtarova rejects the accusations, describing them as politically motivated.
Her case is part of a wider crackdown that has affected more than a hundred activists, journalists, and NGO workers. The controversy deepened after U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern, Co-Chair of the Congressional Human Rights Commission, sent a letter to President Ilham Aliyev urging the government to drop the charges against Mukhtarova and release her husband, journalist Farid Mehralizade of Radio Liberty, who remains imprisoned. McGovern warned that the charges appeared to be retaliation for U.S.-funded independent reporting and highlighted the humanitarian toll on the couple’s one-year-old daughter.
Human rights organizations view the “NGO case” as part of a broader effort to restrict independent civic activity. Critics argue that the government’s use of financial and administrative prosecutions against NGOs is intended to suppress dissent and discourage cooperation with international partners. McGovern’s letter has reignited calls from global rights groups for Azerbaijan to end politically motivated prosecutions and uphold freedoms of expression and association.
Lawyer Zabil Gahramanov’s detention raises concerns over pressure on legal professionals
Azerbaijani lawyer Zabil Gahramanov was detained by police in Ganja shortly after his six-month suspension from the Bar Association.
Authorities accuse him of injuring a man during an altercation at a car wash in Goygol on October 23. His arrest, however, has drawn public concern that the charges may be politically motivated and linked to broader pressure on independent lawyers.
Gahramanov is known for defending clients in politically sensitive cases, including Ilkin Suleymanov, the defendant in the high-profile Narmin Guliyeva murder case. His suspension reportedly followed a disciplinary investigation triggered by his social media criticism of Ganja police. Rights groups note that disciplinary actions against lawyers in Azerbaijan frequently coincide with public criticism of law enforcement, raising concerns about violations of freedom of expression and professional independence.
On October 28, the Ganja Court of Appeal upheld Gahramanov’s three-month pretrial detention. He faces charges under Articles 221.2.2 (hooliganism) and 178.2.4 (fraud causing significant damage) of the Criminal Code. Human rights advocates see his case as part of a continuing pattern of intimidation against lawyers representing politically active citizens. They warn that such actions undermine the independence of the legal profession, erode public trust in the justice system, and contradict international human rights standards.
The post Friday Wrap-up: Ramiz Mehdiyev placed under house arrest, new developments in the NGO case, and lawyer Zabil Qahramanov’s detention sparks concern appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
In Azerbaijan, media outlets that are directly controlled and financed by the government regularly target independent media organizations such as AbzasMedia, Toplum TV, Meydan TV, and others by publishing reports during ongoing investigations that accuse them of smuggling. These outlets share information that can only be obtained through the investigation process, presenting it as evidence, and conduct smear campaigns against those individuals.
However, according to the law, the dissemination of such information during an ongoing investigation is prohibited. Even witnesses questioned in these cases are required to sign a “Non-Disclosure Agreement” to ensure that the secrecy of the investigation is maintained.
Among the channels producing such reports, Baku TV stands out. We investigated where this channel gets its funding and who controls it.
The first claim came from a pro-government journalist
Tural Museyibov, a well-known pro-government journalist and former head of press services at several Azerbaijani state institutions, has made interesting claims about the supermarket chain Bolmart, its owner Adnan Ahmadzade, and Baku TV.
He stated that Bolmart is known to be associated with Adnan Ahmadzade, just like the Rahat Market chain.
“I want to mention one fact. When I used to work at Baku TV, I once shared a critical report about Bolmart without knowing its background. The management called me and said, ‘That belongs to us.’ They stopped the report from airing. This shows that Bolmart is indeed linked to Adnan Ahmadzade,” said Tural Museyibov at the end of his video.
Who owns the Rahat and Bolmart market chains?
According to financial reports published in open sources, the sole shareholder of Bolmart LLC is a company called Pro-Mart LLC. As of December 2022, Pro-Mart had two shareholders: AZ Fast Moving Business LLC and Unitrade Group LLC.
Since information about company founders and shareholders has been classified as a commercial secret under Azerbaijani law since 2012, Meydan TV was unable to determine the real owners of these companies.
However, photos on Bolmart’s official website show Adnan Ahmadzade as the key figure at the opening of the company’s Nakhchivan branch. Additionally, the Report News Agency has featured him together with another supermarket chain, Rahat Market.
According to Rahat Market’s official website, the chain belongs to ANC Group LLC. The founder of ANC Group LLC is officially listed as Adnan Azer oglu Ahmadzade. The Port Baku Bazar supermarket also belongs to this group. Ahmadzade is additionally the founder of the CarsCharge charging station network.
Reminder about Adnan Ahmadzade
Sentyabrın 20-də SOCAR-ın rəhbər vəzifələrində çalışmış, neft maqnatı sayılan Adnan Əhmədzadə barəsində Səbail Rayon Məhkəməsi 4 aylıq həbs qətimkan tədbiri seçdi. DTX-nın apardığı cinayət işi çərçivəsində A.Əhmədzadə iqtisadi təhlükəsizliyə qarşı təxribat və xüsusilə külli miqdarda mənimsəmədə ittiham olunur.
Cinayət Məcəlləsinin müvafiq maddələrinə görə, xüsusilə külli miqdarda mənimsəmə 10 ildən 14 ilədək azadlıqdan məhrumetmə ilə cəzalandırıla bilər.
Adnan Əhmədzadə istər Azərbaycan, istərsə də xarici mediada bahalı və lüks həyat tərzi ilə tanınır.
A.Əhmədzadənin Azərbaycan, Türkiyə, Malta, İspaniya, İngiltərə, Birləşmiş Ərəb Əmirlikləri və Luksemburqda bir neçə şirkəti mövcuddur. Şirkətlərin böyük əksəriyyəti neft-qaz sektoru ilə əlaqədardır.
Əhmədzadə Azərbaycanın neft sənayesinin inkişafındakı xidmətlərinə görə 2015-ci ildə Prezident İlham Əliyev tərəfindən “Tərəqqi” medalı ilə təltif olunub.
Əhmədzadə 2006-cı ildən SOCAR-ın Marketing və İqtisadi Əməliyyatlar İdarəsinin rəisi olub, “SOCAR-Trading”ə rəhbərlik edib.
Araşdırmaçı jurnalistlər Adnan Əhmədzadə və ailəsinin sərvətinin Azərbaycan neftindən əldə olunan qeyri-qanuni gəlirlər sayəsində əldə etdiyini bildirirlər.
Who owns and runs Baku TV?
Although Baku TV was founded in 2018 by blogger Orkhan Aliakbar oglu Mammadov, its current director is Ramin Natig oglu Jafarov, who previously headed a department at Space TV. However, the person who actually manages and oversees the channel is Elnur Nazim oglu Abdullayev.
In official documents, Baku TV is listed under Global Media Group LLC. The current legal representative of Global Media Group is also Elnur Abdullayev. Media outlets within Global Media Group include Baku TV, Haber Global, Report News Agency, Media.az, Oxu.az, Baku.ws, Caliber.az, and Kaspi Newspaper.
In the press, Elnur Abdullayev is known as an associate of former Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov. In 2015, he was appointed head of the State Road Transport Service of the Ministry of Transport by Ziya Mammadov’s order. Before that, Abdullayev was the General Director of the Intelligent Transport Management Center LLC.
In 2020, Abdullayev was awarded the Honorary Diploma of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by President Ilham Aliyev for his contributions to the development of mass media in the country.
Elnur Abdullayev is known to be one of Adnan Ahmadzade’s closest friends. Orkhan Mammadov also has close ties with Ahmadzade. These relationships are visible in their Instagram accounts.
A little about report…
Although Report claims to be an independent news agency that quickly delivers the most important events in the country to its readers, it did not share any information or news about one of the most high-profile events, the detention and arrest of Adnan Ahmadzade, even though it was covered by international and local media outlets.
Previously, even pro-government media sources reported that Report News Agency was created with investment and support from SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The post The hidden hand behind “Baku TV” and “Report” – Adnan Ahmadzade appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
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