Farkhad Akhmedov

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Farkhad Akhmedov
Farkhad Akhmedov
Born	(1954-09-15) 15 September 1954 (age 67) Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Russian, Azerbaijani
Occupation	Businessman

Farkhad Temurovich Akhmedov (Russian: Фархад Тимурович Ахмедов, Azerbaijani: Fərhad Teymur oğlu Əhmədov; born 15 September 1954) is a Russian businessman of Azerbaijani origin. He has been described as a Russian oligarch.^[2]

Background[]

Akhmedov is known to have many close friends made in the early 1980s such as the late Boris Berezovsky, Pyotr Aven, Roman Abramovich and Eugene Shvidler. There are many photos of these men holidaying together in the 1990s and 2000s on the French Riviera with their families, with their yachts positioned nearby.^[3]

Business[]

Northgas[]

In 2005, threatened with the loss of his license to produce gas by the Russian state, Akhmedov agreed to give Gazprom 51% of his shares, in return for not pursuing any claims against Akhmedov.^[4][5]

In 2012, Akhmedov threatened to claim against Gazprom in the London Court of International Arbitrage for failing to abide by the 2005 settlement agreement signed by Akhmedov and the then-CEO of Gazprom, now Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev,^[6] by increasing tariffs on gas production and reducing the quotas which Northgas was permitted to produced.^[7]

Akhmedov sold his 49% remaining stake to Novatek in 2012.^[8][9]

Politics[]

Russia[]

Akhmedov was Chairman of the Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs in the Russian Federation Council from 2004 – 2009. He helped push through several laws regarding child protection, animal rights, and also in favor of decreasing bureaucracy within the state and increasing transparency for Russian officials.^[10]

In 2016, Akhmedov was credited by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu – the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Turkey) for helping to improve relations between Russia and Turkey. Notably, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that I also have a friend Farkhad Ahmedov, a former Russian senator, whom I know since my work in PACE. Farkhad grew up in Russia, grew stronger in economic terms and even was a senator. Then he returned to Azerbaijan. He very much loves Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia. He was also in close contact with Putin and knows him well. Farkhad Akhmedov offered our president to write a letter to Vladimir Putin. He said that a letter will be more effective than numerous meetings of Turkish and Russian delegations. If we look at the contents of the letter, we will see that it reflects what Farkhad Akhmedov said. Proposals by Farkhad Akhmedov as a man, who knew Putin as a close friend, were very valuable.^[11]

Akhmedov is on the list of Russian "oligarchs" named in the CAATSA unclassified report to the U.S. Congress.^[12]

Azerbaijan[]

Akhmedov was a monitor from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the 2010 Azerbaijani parliamentary election. Some say that Akhmedov's role was biased because he was born in Azerbaijan. However, Akhmedov did produce recommendations on future elections and the public noted that Ilham Aliyev's father, Heydar Aliyev ordered the execution of Akhmedov's father, Teymur. This could have made Akhmedov's position biased against the current president at that time, hence the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe continued allowing Akhmedov to be a monitor and even allowed him to have the final decision in whether to accept and recognize the elections, which Aliyev won. Many political analysts see this as being the most important decision, which was in Akhmedov's hands, in deciding whether to allow the Aliyev legacy to continue.^[13]

Divorce proceedings[]

In 2003, Akhmedov's wife, Tatiana Akhmedova, to whom he was married since 1993, filed for a divorce in the UK, where she resided with their two children. During the proceedings, Farkhad Akhmedov claimed the marriage had already been dissolved due to her disloyalty in 2000 by a Russian decree granted in the Moscow Court. However, no official records of the proceedings have been found by Russian lawyers or the UK court. As a result, the UK court determined that "The inference to be drawn [...]is that the 2000 Moscow divorce documents [...] were, at all material times, forged.^[14][15][16] Akhmedov applied to the Moscow court in July 2018 to reinstate the alleged divorce, but his application was dismissed there too.^[17] He went on to apply to a higher Moscow court, attempting once more to prove the marriage was dissolved 16 years ago. But in mid-October 2018 his claims were dismissed again as the court decided to uphold the lower court's ruling that Akhmedov failed to submit credible evidence of an earlier divorce.^[18]

In 2008, the divorce petition filed in 2003 was dismissed after an official reconciliation.^[19] Farkhad Akhmedov maintained that the relationship from this point on was not a real marriage, that he visited the UK only to see his two children, however, the court determined that the marriage was real based on photos taken of the children with their mother and father.^[20] The couple finally divorced in the UK in 2015 after Tatiana petitioned for a divorce in 2013.^[21] In December 2016, the UK High Court awarded Tatyana £453 million, a 41.5% share of the Akhmedovs' marital assets^[22] and one of the largest divorce payouts in UK history. Despite Mr. Akhmedov's claims of "special contribution", the judge did not depart from the equality principle, and ruled that due to both parties' equal contribution to the marriage, the assets obtained during the marriage are to be split equally.^[23] Akhmedov referred to this judgement as "toilet paper" and has not paid his ex-wife the judgement awarded to date.^[24][25] Due to Akhmedov's lack of cooperation, the court placed a world-wide freezing order on all his assets.^[26] In addition, in October 2017, Akhmedov's yacht "LUNA" was impounded in Dubai^[27] by UK court order, in collaboration with the UK and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) court in Dubai.^[28][29] In mid-April 2018, the UK Court ruled that ownership of the yacht is to be transferred to Tatiana.^[30]

On 6 May 2018, it emerged that Akhmedov's ex-wife hired Burford Capital, a finance litigation company quoted on the London Stock Exchange, to help her fund her legal actions^[31]

On 9 May 2018, Akhmedov secured a favorable ruling in Dubai's commercial court in the legal battle over Luna. The DIFC court ruled that the freezing order on the Luna, which was obtained against Straight Establishment in February 2018, would remain in place but also ruled that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the Trust.^[32]

In July 2018, it was reported that the case had been removed from the DIFC courts by Dubai's Joint Judicial Commission (JJC). It ruled the case must be heard by the local sharia courts on the grounds that it is a matrimonial dispute not a commercial or maritime matter. The case is expected to begin in October 2018.^[33]

Akhmedov maintains that the UK divorce was politically motivated and continues to dispute the ruling in Tatiana's favour. On 2 August 2018, Mr. Justice Haddon-Cave ruled that Mr. Akhmedov was in contempt of court and warned that he faced a possible jail term if he entered UK.^[34]

On 12 August, Dubai's civil courts considered an application made jointly by Akhmedov and the family trust which owns Luna to have the freezing order placed on the yacht lifted.^[35] This appeal was rejected by the Dubai courts and Mr Akhmedov was forced to pay Ms Akhmedova's costs.^[36] It was also reported in August that the British embassy had intervened to ensure members of the 50-strong crew of Luna had their UK passports returned to them after they were confiscated by the UAE authorities.^[37]

In August 2018, A Dubai court has rejected an appeal filed by Farkhad Akhmedov to lift a freezing order on Luna^[38]

In October 2018, it was reported that Akhmedov had earlier made two multi-million pound settlement offers to Tatiana without prejudice – in 2014 and 2015 – in an attempt to ensure current and future generations benefit from the family's financial legacy. Both offers were rejected.^[39]

In a landmark ruling in November 2018, the court of first instance at the Dubai civil courts dismissed Tatiana Akhmedova's case against Akhmedov and the Akhmedov family trust and ordered her pay to legal and administration costs. The Dubai and UK media reported the ruling as a major blow for Tatiana and her backers Burford Capital.^[40] The court ruled that the freezing order granted by the English High Court, under whose terms Luna was impounded, could not be enforced. Tatiana is believed to be considering an appeal.^[41]

In March 2019, the Dubai court of appeal ruled that the Dubai lower courts' order to impound the yacht was wrong. The ruling was widely reported as a major blow to Tatiana Akhmedova and her backers, Burford Capital, and there was speculation that Luna could leave the port where she had been docked for over a year.^[42] That was followed in April 2019 by a claim submitted in the Dubai courts for damages totalling $85m issued by Straight Trust, the Akhmedov family trust that owns Luna, against Akhmedova and Burford. Amongst other things, the claim stated that the wrongful arrest of Luna had resulted in damages to the vessel.^[43] The UK media noted that Neil Woodford, one of the City's most renowned fund managers, is an investor in Burford through his fund Woodford Equity Income. A second $115m claim for damages was filed against Burford by Farkhad Akhmedov, taking the total damages faced by the company over the wrongful arrest of Luna to $200m. On the 1st October 2020, the Dubai Court of Cassation dismissed the damages claim in its entirety ^[44]

In October 2019, an independent expert appointed by the Dubai courts to assess the amount of damages incurred as a result of Luna's wrongful arrest filed his report. It found that Farkhad Akhmedov will be owed nearly £50m in lost rental income – covering the period when Luna was under arrest – if the damages claim is decided in his favour.^[45]

A January 2020 High Court hearing in London considered an application from Tatiana Akhmedov and her financial backers Burford Capital to join the couple's son Temur, a commodities trader, to the legal claim against his father. Akhmedov demanded details of Tatiana's financial arrangement with Burford, arguing it is unlawful.^[46] Ultimately, the High Court ruled that the financing arrangement was lawful and denied the application for disclosure.^[47]

In an earlier High Court judgment,^[48] Mrs Justice Knowles ruled that documents in the possession of a former Akhmedov adviser were admissible as evidence despite the existence of the confidentiality agreement former close financial adviser to Farkhad Akhmedov were admissible as evidence. This was despite the existence of the confidentiality agreement between the adviser, former Goldman’s and UBS banker Ross Henderson, and his former employer.

In August 2020, Dubai’s most senior judges, sitting in the emirate’s Court of Cassation, made  their final ruling that Tatiana and Burford had no right to seize the Luna which they ordered  should remain the property of an Akhmedov family trust. ^[49]

Despite this ruling, Tatiana and Burford pursued multi-jurisdictional litigation in at least six countries, including the USA, Russia, Liechtenstein and the Marshall Islands against Farkhad who continued to defend assets belonging to family trusts and to himself.

By the end of the 2020, four years after the English High Court award, Tatiana and Burford had recovered only one per cent of that settlement in the form of a decommissioned helicopter. The costs of the litigation were estimated to have exceeded £40 million.^[50]

Litigation following the 2016 High Court Award continued into a fifth year into mid-2021 before Tatiana accepted a settlement of £100 million cash and a number of artworks from Farkhad.  The cash amount was identical to the amount offered by Farkhad in 2014 before the English court hearings began. Burford announced to the City that it had received “its full cash entitlement” of £75 million from Tatiana’s settlement.^[51]

Art[]

Akhmedov has paid for exhibitions of major Azerbaijani artists throughout the world, mainly in London and Paris. He is known in Azerbaijan to have the largest private collection of Azerbaijani art, which is displayed in his museum Nar Gallery^[52] in the Old City of Baku and is open to the public. He is a close friend of Farhad Khalilov, chairman of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, and has organised exhibitions of his works in Europe several times. Most notably, in March 2015 at the Saatchi Gallery.^[53]

In 2015, Akhmedov emerged publicly as a major buyer in the art auction market. He purchased Mark Rothko's Untitled Yellow and Blue for US$46.5 million.^[54]

Religion[]

Some reports have claimed that Akhmedov is a practicing Muslim, however according to his ex-wife, he did not comply with any Muslim rituals or traditions throughout their 20 years of marriage. The conflicting information is related to an ongoing divorce dispute between the two. Legal experts believe that the reason behind Akhmedov's religious claims was his intent to take the dispute to Sharia court where he believed he had better chances of a favorable judgement.^[2]

Akhmedov denied this in an interview with the Russian media in which he spoke about his Muslim faith and made it clear his former wife was well aware of his Muslim heritage.^[55]

References[]

External links[]

• AzNar Charity Foundation
• Reuters| Northgas stake seller sees $1.5 bln Inter RAO bid
• Kommersant | «Интер РАО» может стать партнером «Газпрома»