By Khalid Kazimov

Rashad Abdullayev is one busy 21-year-old.

At an age when many Azerbaijani youths would be happy to land entry-level jobs, he has amassed an impressive resume and an even more impressive portfolio of companies.

He has also set himself up to be perceived as a personal benefactor for Azerbaijani students in Turkey, using not his own money but funds from SOCAR, the state-owned oil company his father heads.

Since arriving in Istanbul in 2010 at the age of 17 to study chemical engineering at Koch University, he started working at SOCAR Trading, which was established by SOCAR to organize sales of Azerbaijani oil in international markets.

Rashad Abdullayev is the son of SOCAR president Rovdag Abdullayev. In the past four years Rashad Abdullayev has landed several jobs in SOCAR-related enterprises.

Azerbaijani laws are clear about conflicts of interest, says lawyer Muzaffar Bakhishov. The country’s anti-corruption law states that close relatives of officials can hold no position under their direct supervision, except for elective positions and other cases foreseen by legislation.

When such a situation occurs, one of the relatives must leave his or her job within 30 days or face dismissal. Company officials and Rashad Abdullayev declined repeated requests for clarification of how his employment squares with this law.

Additionally, Rashad Abdullayev owns several businesses aligned with SOCAR:

• The Alpha Roger Project (www.alpharoger.com.tr) deals in top-end real estate. Other businesses in which he is listed as sole owner are involved in construction, sea and air shipping, management and human resources consulting, and sales of lubricant oil projects.
• Rashad Abdullayev is listed as having purchased the website for Alpha Roger Insan Kaynaklari Hizmetleri ve Danismanlik Anonim Sirketi, a new business consulting company. The company already has an Azerbaijani branch registered to the address of a building owned by Rashad Abdullayev’s maternal grandfather, Adem Aliyev. The 68-year-old Aliyev is linked to SOCAR through companies which are registered in the British Virgin Islands.
• In an interview in the November, 2013 edition of the Turkish magazine “Quality”, Rashad Abdullayev said he had also worked for Petkim Petrokimya (SOCAR Turkey Petrokimya A.Ş owns 51 percent of Petkim), but didn’t specify which position he held. Petkim didn’t respond to an inquiry on Rashad Abdullayev’s employment history with the company.

The younger Abdullayev has been active in at least one other business with no apparent connection to SOCAR. In the “Quality” interview, Abdullayev said he owns the B-LONG resort restaurant in the Turkish city of Bodrum. OCCRP has not found documents proving his ownership. In the interview, he describes his future plans to open hotels in Istanbul and other cities.

Rashad Abdullayev has been as active on the charitable front as he has in business, and his connection to SOCAR in that arena seems just as strong.

For 200 Azerbaijani university students in Turkey struggling to make ends meet, Rashad Abdullayev seems like a hero because he gives them money. But the money actually comes from SOCAR, a 100 percent state-owned company, which means it’s the Azerbaijani people’s money that is being given to students.

But Abdullayev, barely out of university and already listed as the sole owner of five companies in Turkey, is in position to take full credit – and he does.

The younger Abdullayev operates the Center for Development of Azerbaijani Human Capital (AZEDER), a non-profit organization registered in Turkey.

There are currently 6,901 Azerbaijani students studying in Turkey. Since 2007, 558 Azerbaijani students—an average of 80 per year--have received direct government aid from Azerbaijan, while the rest pay themselves or get some form of private aid.

While the government aid packages are not lavish, Turkish education costs can be low enough that even poor students can survive if they can get help from other sources. The Turkish government offers students from 16 “Turkic republics and countries” (including Azerbaijan) tuition at the Turkish national rate, or about a third of what other foreigners pay.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• The Azerbaijani government’s aid package includes a monthly stipend of US$ 100 plus two round-trip tickets home per year.
• The Turkish government provides all Azerbaijani students with health insurance, free dorm rooms and two meals a day, plus a modest stipend of about US$ 20 per month.
• According to Hikmet Gasimzade, who studied at Istanbul Technical University in 2013, university fees there ranged between US$ 55 and US$ 110 per month.

Most students, however, get only the Turkish aid package. If they prefer to share rental flats rather than live in the free dorms, their costs can rise to US$ 300 per month, according to Gasimzade.

Enter Rashad Abdullayev.

His center spends about US$ 240,000 annually to provide 200 lucky students an extra US$ 100 a month for 12 months. According to the students, there is no exam or any criteria announced. Students are simply directed to links on a website to apply. Nobody from AZEDER has responded to OCCRP questions on how students are chosen.

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