A controversial trader from Baku, holding a Russian passport, Maltese citizenship, and living in the UAE, continues to help bypass sanctions in the transport of Russian oil.
In this situation, the circus may have left, but the clowns remain: unknown companies are now handling Russian oil after Western firms and major traders stopped cooperating.
Instead of transnational giants, shady companies have started transporting fuel, some of which emerged in the first days of the announcement of the SVO (Special Military Operation): we’re talking about the (already) notoriously infamous firm Bellatrix Energy. Bloomberg analysts linked the name Bellatrix to a character from the Harry Potter books, the evil witch Bellatrix Lestrange.
This "witchy" company is directly connected to Tahir Garayev, known in narrow circles as the founder of 2Rivers Group. However, after certain events, the firm changed its name to Coral Energy. Coral Energy is registered in Singapore. The company entered the market back in 2010 with supplies of Azerbaijani oil.
Mr. Garayev has dozens of firms and small companies up his "sleeve," like a magician. As the saying goes, catch me if you can.
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Black Marks
Mr. Garayev has received several black marks in recent times.
This happened before he wholeheartedly participated in the creation of Bellatrix Energy.
Azerbaijani media reported some time ago that five Azerbaijani citizens – Tahir Garayev, Ahmed Kerimov, Anar Madatli, Talat Safarov, and Etibar Eyyub – were included in the UK sanctions list.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Oil "Kings"?
As journalists reported, all these individuals are executives of Coral Energy Group (2Rivers Group), which is suspected of aiding in the circumvention of sanctions during the transportation of Russian oil.
The British government claims that Coral Energy Group was involved in trading Russian hydrocarbons using tankers to bypass international sanctions. Hong Kong-based BX Energy, which deals with battery production, also fell under restrictions. Additionally, the independent trading company Nord Axis Ltd. was targeted. These companies were also involved in trading Russian hydrocarbons. Sanctions were also imposed on Romarine AS (Norway), a company providing vessel maintenance services.
However, the list of five individuals was clearly missing a sixth: Bilal Aliyev, who is allegedly the owner of Bellatrix Energy. Yet, Azerbaijani journalists found no trace of Aliyev in Baku, Moscow, or Dubai.
This turned out to be a sort of "phantom," possibly invented by Tahir Garayev himself, as details emerged that Bellatrix Energy received two substantial loans from Russian banks, one of which belongs to Igor Sechin’s Rosneft.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Igor Sechin
Since mid-June 2023, vessels chartered by Bellatrix have made over 150 calls to Russian ports. The company traded tens of millions of tons of oil and other products from Russian state oil companies: according to declarations on the ImportGenius website, Bellatrix traded oil and petroleum products from companies like Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz, Russneft, and others.
Next, regarding the black marks. We should recall February 2024.
At that time, a search was conducted at Tahir Garayev’s Coral Energy office on Altufyevskoe Highway in Moscow. The police detained several office employees. It turns out that Mr. Garayev was in Moscow at the time but managed to flee along with his brother.
It should be noted that Mr. Garayev has previously been involved in high-profile scandals involving sudden departures. Some time ago, he had to urgently leave Istanbul because investigative authorities took a close look at a contract between Coral Energy and the Turkish company CYE Petrol.
This company was engaged in supplying fuel for commercial vessels. A supply contract was signed, and $20 million was transferred to Coral Energy’s account to secure a bank guarantee.
According to the contract, these funds could not be withdrawn from CYE Petrol’s account before 12 months had passed. However, Garayev’s company began withdrawing the money just 8 days later. When this came to light, Garayev claimed it was an unfortunate mistake. Although the situation was resolved, it negatively impacted CYE Petrol’s reputation. The company demanded through the court that Coral Energy fulfill the supply obligations. CYE Petrol believed that Garayev’s company’s actions caused significant damage – $40 million.
For this reason, the case was taken up by the prosecutor’s office, and Mr. Garayev began avoiding Turkey.
Later, the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for Tahir Garayev’s arrest.
LLC "Alpen Energy": A Lot of Wholesale
Baku native Tahir Garayev has so thoroughly erased all information about himself from the internet that his past can only be judged by a few documents still available in the public domain.
It turns out that back in 2007, Mr. Garayev became the founder of LLC "Alpen Energy" in Moscow, which was liquidated in June 2017.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Authorized capital – 100 thousand rubles.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Mr. Garayev spent many years trading wholesale solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. He had an office on Vtoraya Roshchinskaya Street, 4.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Apparently, different times have come?
Today, 2Rivers trades a range of oil and petroleum products, including natural gas, ethanol, fuel oil, bitumen, middle distillates, and naphtha.
Connection to Azerbaijan’s Ruling Elite?
Recall that Tahir Garayev founded 2Rivers back in 2010, but at that time, it operated primarily in the Azerbaijani market.
Later, 2Rivers became a major trader.
Sources claim that 2Rivers has connections with functionaries of Azerbaijan’s ruling elite.
Besides Tahir Garayev, there is another shadowy figure in this business – Etibar Eyyub, an Azerbaijani citizen. This individual is reportedly the main contact between 2Rivers and Igor Sechin.
Note that until the end of 2023, Garayev owned 100% of 2Rivers (Coral Energy) through a complex corporate structure: Garayev owned 100% of Novus Middle East DMCC (UAE), which controlled 100% of Vetus Investments Limited (UAE).
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Vetus Investments controlled 100% of Coral Energy.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Oil tankers
2Rivers operates through a network of companies: these include dozens of trading firms established in the DMCC free zone in the UAE, as well as companies managing and operating vessels.
Until 2022, 2Rivers (Coral Energy) was based in Geneva.
After February 2022, 2Rivers relocated its headquarters to Dubai. The company now operates offices in both Singapore and Geneva.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Geneva
As early as January 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Coral Energy controls at least 100 vessels through shell companies, including Gatik Ship Management, Gaurik Ship Management, and Buena Vista Shipping.
Five of these ships fell under UK and EU sanctions.
Additionally, Mr. Garayev transferred 60% of the shares of Novus Middle East DMCC to Pura Vida Holding Limited (UAE), backed by the current management of 2Rivers: Talat Safarov (45%), Ahmed Kerimov (35%), and Anar Madatli (20%).
In January 2024, CEO Talat Safarov, CFO Ahmed Kerimov, and CEO Anar Madatli – all Azerbaijani citizens and UAE residents – completed the purchase of Garayev’s shares.
However, Garayev continues to control 2Rivers, despite not owning the company on paper.
By the way, Anar Madatli is the brother of Tahir Garayev’s wife.
The Adventures of the Tanker "Theseus"
Thus, today, Bellatrix Energy is part of the 2Rivers group of companies.
Another company with shared directors with Coral Energy is Nord Axis, which operates in Hong Kong.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Nord Axis Ltd - Company Profile and News - Bloomberg Markets
This entity was established on February 15, 2022.
Although Garayev denies that Coral Energy has any ties to Nord Axis, Nord Axis documents show that in May 2022, the sole owner of Nord Axis was Adalat Kazimili. However, Mr. Kazimili was also registered as the official representative of Coral Energy Turkey.
In 2023, Nord Axis was managed by Etibar Eyyub, who worked at Coral Energy.
In 2022 – again – Trafigura sold its 10% stake in the Vostok oil project to Etibar Eyyub and his company Nord Axis.
I’d like to share a story about an incident involving one of the tankers transporting Russian oil to Ghana.
This dark story involved Bellatrix, as it was the company that chartered the vessel.
We’re talking about the tanker "Theseus," which was heading to Ghana under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. It was detained in the port of Tema due to issues with documentation. This was reported by Oil Capital.
Initially, the vessel, owned by Gatik Ship Management, was supposed to unload oil for storage in tanks at the port of Tema.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Port of Tema, Ghana
However, in reality, the oil from the tanker "Theseus" was sold to Platon Oil and Gas. This company owns an oil refinery in Ghana.
As media outlets that reviewed the official documentation reported, it was clear that the charterer of the vessel was Bellatrix, and the loading port was not Novorossiysk but Aktau (Kazakhstan).
However, the port of Aktau cannot accommodate vessels like the tanker "Theseus." It remains a mystery how, without passing through the Volga-Don system, the tanker could have traveled from the Caspian Sea to the waters of the Western Atlantic? These questions were raised by journalists from the Azerbaijani publication haqqin.az.
Once again – no information about the owner of Bellatrix, Bilal Aliyev.
Tahir Garayev’s oil fraud and sanctions evasion: how Coral Energy and Bellatrix falsify documents to pass Russian oil off as Kazakh
Oil tanker
"It is unclear whether our compatriot is independently engaged in the business of transporting Russian oil or is someone’s beneficiary?" – Azerbaijani journalists asked themselves.
These situations are quite revealing, with confusion over documents and a "phantom" owner.
In general, the dog barks, but the oil caravan moves on!
