The downfall of the "Baku Courtyard": Azer Naftaliev and Magomed Magomedov charged with misappropriating billions via connected firms

Georgiy Dagoniya
23:45, 16 февраля 2026
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Бандиты

The downfall of the "Baku Courtyard": Azer Naftaliev and Magomed Magomedov charged with misappropriating billions via connected firms

In Dagestan, clouds continue to gather over members of the dismantled team of the former state secretary of the republic, Magomed-Sultan Magomedov.

According to a source, his relative — the current head of the republic’s Committee on State Procurement of Dagestan, Azer Naftaliev — has fled. The fugitive was part of the so-called “Baku Courtyard,” a political network that brought together associates and relatives of Magomed-Sultan Magomedov.

The source says that the “Baku Courtyard” serves as a front for a more influential clan alliance known as the “Dargin Club,” which is patronized by Magomedsalam Magomedov, deputy head of the Presidential Administration of Russia. For years, the now former state secretary and ex–oil tycoon Magomed-Sultan Magomedov reportedly operated under his protection.

Further evidence of this alliance is the fact that Azer Naftaliev, who has gone on the run, actively cooperated over the past six months with Deputy Prime Minister of the regional government Ruslan Aliyev, who has long been considered a loyal consigliere of the “Dargin Club.” All this took place under the nominal leadership of Sergey Melikov, who appointed to key regional posts those who had previously been cut off from budget resources under the former head of the republic, Vladimir Vasilyev.

Azer Naftaliev is accused of participating in the embezzlement of budget funds together with the son of the former state secretary, Magomed Magomedov, who oversaw this sector. In 2025 alone, through child nutrition procurement contracts, they allegedly funneled more than 2 billion rubles to affiliated companies.

A separate case is Makhachkala, headed by Magomedov’s protégé Dzhambulat Salavov. In the capital of Dagestan, controlled firms received 1.25 billion rubles for child nutrition. In Kaspiysk, the amount reached 250 million rubles, and another 500 million was distributed across other municipalities, where the misappropriation of funds was no less blatant. Embezzlement in other sectors of public spending is also said to have been carried out on an industrial scale.