Farhad Teymurovich Akhmedov is the president and co-owner of Northgas CJSC. Representative of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, former representative of the Krasnodar Territory in the Federation Council, former general director of Northgas CJSC.

Assets

Farhad Akhmedov's main assets are concentrated:

• gas production industry (ZAO Northgas).

State

Biography

Military service

1975-1977 - military service in the Soviet Army (Navy).

Education

He graduated from PTU-85 in Moscow with a degree in Fitter-Assembler.

1983 - graduated from the Moscow Veterinary Academy named after. K.I. Scriabin, Faculty of Commodity Science, specialty “Technology and Commodity Science”.

1990 - graduated from the Higher School of Economics in the UK.

1998-2000 - graduated from graduate school at the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkin. Topic of the dissertation: “Structural transformations in the Russian gas industry: problems and prospects.”

Science degree

Candidate of Economic Sciences.

Career

1983 - quality inspector for leather and fur raw materials at the USSR State Inspectorate.

1983-1987 - representative of the fuel company International Petrol Equipment Company (Ipesco) in the USSR.

1983-1994 - manager of an English company engaged in technologies for the development of oil and gas fields.

Founded the company Tansley Trading Ltd (trading operations in the oil and petroleum products market and supplying equipment to Gazprom enterprises).

1987-1994 - Ipesco consultant on marketing issues in the petrochemical industry of Azerbaijan.

1987 - 1998 - Director of Farco Group Limited.

Consultant to Amoco Eurasia Limited and McDermott International Limited in negotiations with SOCAR on the development of shelf fields in the Caspian Sea.

Broker Hurwitz Furs in the USSR.

1987-2002 - head of the company Tansley Trading (later renamed Farco Group Limited), which was engaged in marketing research of the hydrocarbon market conditions, supplied hydrocarbons to the European market, as well as supplies of oil and gas equipment to Russia.

1989 - one of the ideologists of the creation of the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC) for the development of the Caspian shelf, attracted the oil company Amoco Eurasia and the engineering company McDermott to the project.

1994-2004 - Member of the Board of Directors of CJSC Northgas.

1996-2006 - publisher of the magazine “Oil and Gas Vertical” (the name of the magazine until 1998 was “Oil and Gas Equipment Market”).

2002-2004 - President of CJSC Northgas.

December 9, 2004 - dismissed from the post of president and member of the board of directors of Northgas CJSC in connection with his election as a member of the Federation Council (senator).

2005 - agreed to transfer a controlling stake in CJSC Northgas to Gazprom.

2010 - Member of the Board of Directors of CJSC Northgas. Chairman of the Supervisory Board, shareholder of CJSC AZNAR.

Social and political activities

1997 - Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Technological Sciences.

2004-2007 - member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - representative from the administration of the Krasnodar Territory, member of the committee on legal and judicial issues, commission on natural monopolies, commission for monitoring the activities of the Federation Council, temporary commission on international technical and humanitarian cooperation.

2004-2007 representative in the Federation Council from the administration of the Krasnodar region.

June 2007 - July 18, 2009 - representative in the Federation Council of the Assembly of Deputies of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

2007-2010 - Member of the Federation Council - representative from the Legislative Assembly of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

He was a member of the Committee on Legal and Judicial Issues of the Federation Council.

As a representative of the Federation Council, he was a member of the Parliamentary Association of European Countries (PACE) and a member of the Interparliamentary Commission of the Federation Council and the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In addition to Russian, he is fluent in English and Azerbaijani.

In 1999, after carrying out several additional share issues, Akhmedov diluted Gazprom’s share in Northgas CJSC. Litigation followed, as a result of which Akhmedov remained the owner of 49% of Northgas CJSC, and the controlling stake went to Gazprom.

2011 - announced his intention to sell part of Northgas CJSC, and then abandoned the deal.

Charity

Provides charitable assistance to a number of public organizations in the fields of sports, education, and culture.

Sport

• City Boxing Federation of Novy Urengoy;
• “Sport – Against Drugs” Foundation;
• Children's organizations of New Urengoy (purchase of medical and sports equipment).

Education

• Schools of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (as part of the program for encouraging the achievements of schoolchildren under the patronage of UNESCO);
• Cadet boarding school of Moscow;
• Berezansky and Starokorsunsky orphanages of the Krasnodar Territory;
• School No. 7 in Goychay, Azerbaijan (reconstruction of the building and purchase of computer equipment);
• Mozhaisk women's colony (playground for the Children's Home);
• Villages of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (construction of playgrounds).

Culture

• Gallery of modern Azerbaijani painting (creation of a collection, publication of a catalog is planned);
• Folk Art Festival in Novy Urengoy;
• “Mercy” campaign, carried out by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North “Yamal-Descendants”;
• Exhibition "Nedra-2005" and Festival of author's geological songs, dedicated to Geologist's Day;
• Screening of the play “Arshin-Mal-Alan” in Novy Urengoy as part of the Year of Azerbaijan in Russia;
• Center of Russian Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan (purchase of concert equipment);
• Kuban Cossack Quartet “Kumovya” (organization of tours and release of a CD dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory);
• Javidan Sadigov (directing and recording musical numbers);
• Monument to the ataman of the Kuban Cossack army A.A. Golovaty, Rear Admiral N.S. Fedorov and Count F.M. Apraksin in Lankaran (Azerbaijan);
• Financing of publications.

Material aid

• Veterans of the Great Patriotic War - residents of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
• Veterans of the Great Patriotic War - residents of the Krasnodar Territory;
• Society of Disabled People and Veterans of Moscow;
• All-Russian lottery “Victory Day”, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945;
• For victims of natural disasters in Southeast Asia;
• To the Ballaev family for surgical ophthalmological treatment of the child.

Family status

Married. Three children.

Notes

1. The richest businessmen of Russia - 2011
2. The richest businessmen of Russia - 2012
3. 3.0 3.1 Farhad Akhmedov
4. "Gas producer" Farhad Akhmedov
5. Food for thought - Azerbaijani billionaire Farhad Akhmedov
6. Official website of Farhad Akhmedov. Policy
7. Official website of Farhad Akhmedov. Biography
8. Northgas owner Farhad Akhmedov: Oil and gas cannot be loved physically, but financially - this is the only thing on which Russia’s legs stand today
9. Akhmedov refused to sell his stake in Northgas to Inter RAO
10. Official website of Farhad Akhmedov. Charity

A London court ruled to arrest the Luna yacht of Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov (69th place on the Forbes list, net worth $1.4 billion) worth $492 million. The arrest was imposed as part of ensuring payments to the businessman’s ex-wife. As the Ruspres agency previously reported, Akhmedov’s divorce proceedings became one of the most expensive in British history.

Previously, the court awarded the billionaire's ex-wife $646 million. In making its decision, it stated that Farhad Akhmedov tried to hide the yacht from justice through a scheme involving a group of companies, and also moved it to Dubai. In the UAE, the billionaire hoped the Luna yacht would “be beyond the reach of a British court order,” the court said. Farhad Akhmedov told RBC that he challenged the decision of the London court. According to him, the complaint will be considered on May 14.

“Since the divorce, I have generously provided for my ex-wife, allowing her - and this is documented - to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle as the mother of my two children,” Farhad Akhmedov emphasized. The billionaire noted that the court requires him to give 40% of his fortune in favor of his ex-wife. “This completely ignores the fact that all of these assets are included in a family trust where they will be preserved for my children and grandchildren,” he added.

The Luna yacht previously, according to yacht resources, belonged to Roman Abramovich; Farhad Akhmedov acquired it in 2014. The cost of the yacht was estimated at more than €260 million, its price increased after modernization. In 2016, Farhad Akhmedov spent about $50 million on improving the yacht. The ship’s crew consists of about 50 people, its length is 115 m. Luna has nine decks and a landing pad for a helicopter.

Divorce of Farhad Akhmedov

Farkhad Akhmedov divorced his wife 18 years ago, after she admitted to several infidelities, he said in an interview. They had been married since 1993, when they bought a house in London. The billionaire's ex-wife had dual citizenship of Russia and Great Britain. The breakup of their marriage was recorded by the registry office in Moscow. However, the ex-wife applied for a divorce under English law.

The wife's defense insisted that the divorce certificate was not attached to the documents of the divorce proceedings, which were conducted in the UK, based on which the court considered that Farkhad Akhmedov was married until 2013. This influenced the court's decision to establish the amount due to the spouse. In 2012, Farhad Akhmedov sold his stake in the gas company Northgas to Novatek for $1.375 billion.

As the Financial Times wrote, the ex-wife, justifying the amount she required, claimed that she, in particular, needed £39.2 million (more than $55 million) to buy a house in London, £27.8 million ($39.5 million) to purchase a house in France, and £5 million (more than $7 million) per year for living expenses. In 2017, the court decision to pay the amount came into force, but Farhad Akhmedov refused to pay the amount established by the court. The billionaire noted in his statement that after a divorce finalized in Russia, he gave his ex-wife a house in the elite area of ​​St. George's Hill in the city of Weybridge worth about £20 million, and also spent “millions of pounds a year on her maintenance.” .

“British courts are always on the side of wives, especially rich husbands, so that these ex-wives spend their money in England, including on the maintenance of British justice, that is, this money is thus poured into the UK economy,” the billionaire commented on the decision of the British court. It was previously reported that the Akhmedovs lived in Britain in a mansion worth £39 million pounds ($55.6 million) in Surrey and owned a country house worth £27.8 million pounds ($39.6 million).

Farhad Akhmedov was included in the “Kremlin list” prepared by the US Treasury Department for Congress. It included persons related to the top leadership of Russia. A total of 210 people: 114 politicians and 96 businessmen. As the Ruspres agency reported, in 2006, State Duma deputy Nikolai Pavlov accused the then senator Farhad Akhmedov of salary fraud and underpayment of taxes by Northgas by 170 million rubles. For his part, Farhad Akhmedov explained the claims against him by the desire to reduce the value of the company before selling it.

Farhad Teymur ogly Akhmedov found himself in the same situation as Igor Makarov from Itera and Yakov Goldovsky from Sibur. Gazprom was the first to sell assets at a reduced price to all three companies, and then, due to the departure of Rem Vyakhirev from Gazprom, returned all the assets to itself. However, the consequences for Akhmedov became less serious compared to his colleagues. Gazprom did not demand natural gas deposits from Akhmedov's company or a production license, without which Northgas would not be able to function. All Gazprom wanted was a 51% stake in Northgas, which it subsequently achieved through litigation. Although Farhad Akhmedov lost control of Northgas, 49% of the shares of his company remained with the Cypriot R.E.D.I. Holding (its beneficiary is Farhad Akhmedov) and he himself, and they have an equal right to manage the company. In addition, Akhmedov has a decent share of shares in Gazprom itself, as well as several other oil and gas companies in Russia and a number of oil giants in the world, as a result of which he still remains one of the richest people in Russia. From June 6, 2007 to June 24, 2009, representative of the Assembly of Deputies of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Federation Council.

In 2012, Farhad Akhmedov, after six months of negotiations with Gazprom, initiated a lawsuit with which R.E.D.I. appealed to the London Court of International Arbitration. In the statement of claim, R.E.D.I. (49% of Northgas) it is said that the actions of Gazprom (51% of Northgas) lead to losses for Northgas and reduce the value of the R.E.D.I. share. Gazprom Neft is keenly interested in this share, which even signed with R.E.D.I. agreement of intent. In the shareholder agreement of 2005, Gazprom pledged to ensure the normal operation of Northgas. But when at the end of 2011 the time came to renew the contract for processing Northgas gas condensate, Gazprom offered unfavorable conditions: for example, it was assumed that Gazprom Pererabotka (a subsidiary of Gazprom) had the right to unilaterally determine what volume of condensate to take for processing. This condition would make Northgas completely dependent on Gazprom Pererabotki when planning gas and condensate production (extracted simultaneously) and would not allow the company to properly enter into gas sales contracts.

Gazprom and Northgas failed to agree on the price of the main volume of gas. Gazprom Mezhregiongaz agreed to purchase it for 828 rubles. per 1000 cubic meters m, which is 38% lower than the price that the department of economic expertise and pricing of Gazprom itself recognized as justified back in December 2011 - 1143.3 rubles. per 1000 cubic meters m.

Gazprom Mezhregiongaz also refuses to provide Northgas with transportation to deliver gas to an independent buyer, Itera. In its lawsuit, R.E.D.I. demands that Gazprom be obliged to process condensate under the same conditions, as well as recover lost profits from it. Gazprom should also oblige Gazprom Mezhregiongaz to purchase gas from Northgas at RUB 1,143.3. per 1000 cubic meters m during 2012 or provide transport for gas delivery to Itera, and if the company does not eliminate the violations, R.E.D.I. can present its shares for redemption - it has a put option. The price of 49% of Northgas should be determined by an independent appraiser - R.E.D.I. and Gazprom can each choose one of 10 banks specified in the shareholder agreement.

Notes

Links

Predecessor: Tatyana Ivanovna Konovalova

Subsequently, Tatyana Akhmedova wrote a letter to her ex-husband in which she begged for forgiveness, the businessman said in a statement published by an Azerbaijani publication. At the same time, her lawyers tried to challenge the legality of the divorce registered in Russia and insisted on its annulment. In 2003, Tatyana Akhmedova, who has dual citizenship (Russia and Great Britain), applied for a divorce under English law. But the businessman disputed this petition, citing the presence of a “Russian” divorce, his statement says.

The English court did not recognize the Russian divorce

As follows from the verdict of the English court, Akhmedov claimed that their marriage was dissolved by a decision of a Moscow court in August 2000. But the wife’s defense did not find any materials on their divorce proceedings in the archives of this court, notes the British judge, and at a meeting with the parties’ lawyers before the start of the trial on October 25, 2016, Akhmedov’s representatives did not challenge the absence of a Russian decision. Based on this, the judge concluded that the divorce documents dated 2000, to which Akhmedov referred, were not genuine. According to the British court, the couple "remained married until 2013 in every sense of the word": they holidayed together at their home in France, "slept in the same bed when they were together", shared a bank account, etc. .

The question of the timing of the termination of the marriage relationship is fundamental, since the bulk of the “family assets”, according to the British court, stems from the amount of $1.375 billion that the spouse received from the sale of a stake in a Russian company in November 2012.

The ex-wife “secretly” filed a new petition for divorce in the High Court of London just three days after Akhmedov received money from the sale of 49% of Northgas to NOVATEK for $1.375 billion, writes Haqqin. But at first she did not give effect to this statement, the publication claims. Instead, the ex-wife “sought to achieve an “amicable” agreement with Farhad Akhmedov, threatening new punitive divorce measures under English law if he refused to satisfy her demands.” However, they were unable to agree on a peaceful resolution of the dispute, so Tatyana Akhmedova resumed the proceedings in a London court, which ruled in her favor.

Akhmedov did not even participate in this proceeding in the High Court of London. Two weeks before the start of the hearing on the merits, he refused to participate in the process because “he did not want to disclose to a foreign state and justice confidential documents about Northgas - about the history of the company’s creation, development, geology, shareholders, courts, and the like,” he said he is RBC. “The court even appointed an expert who was supposed to study the archives of Northgas, understand its 20-year history and estimate its value. Naturally, I said that some quasi-expert would not be able to understand the history of Northgas since 1993, evaluate the company and determine the special contribution of her [Tatyana Akhmedova] to Northgas. I sent them and acted like a patriot!” — the businessman is categorical.

Akhmedov is confident that the amount that a British court ordered to pay his ex-wife would have been “several times less” if he had agreed to disclose these confidential documents about his gas company.

Biggest payout

The payout of almost $600 million, awarded by the High Court of London during the divorce proceedings of Farhad and Tatyana Akhmedov, is the largest in the history of the “divorce capital of the world,” as London is called (a significant part of the divorce proceedings take place here, during which lawyers often achieve multimillion-dollar payments for the ex-wives of rich people), notes the Financial Times (FT). According to her, the previous record was set in 2014: a London court ruled that the manager of the hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund, Christopher Hohn, must pay his ex-wife a third of his fortune of $1.5 billion, namely $530 million. Before that the record belonged to the Berezovsky couple: according to the 2011 agreement, Galina was supposed to receive up to £200 million from Boris, but then the exact amount of compensation was not officially disclosed.

The amount of payment to Tatyana Akhmedova, established by a British court, includes real estate (houses in France and London), an Aston Martin car worth £350 thousand and a collection of contemporary art worth another £90.5 million, as well as five Holland and Holland shotguns. But, according to the businessman, after the “Russian” divorce, he gave his ex-wife a house in the elite area of ​​​​St. George's Hill in the city of Weybridge, worth about £20 million, and also spent “millions of pounds a year on her maintenance,” Haqqin reports.

And Akhmedov, judging by his comments to RBC, does not intend to implement the decision of the High Court of London. “The prospects for this court decision are the same as those for a donut hole - none! This verdict only applies to the UK, where I have had nothing for a long time. I’m not a British citizen, I haven’t caught anything there for a long time,” said the businessman. In his opinion, the decision of the British court is “no more expensive than toilet paper for the defendant, and millions and millions of pounds sterling for the plaintiff.” “There’s no money! And, as you can see, it won’t. I will repeat one well-known expression: they are tortured to swallow dust in the courts while searching for them!” - Farhad Akhmedov briefly commented on the efforts of British lawyers.

Tatiana’s lawyers have so far failed to seize anything from her ex-husband’s assets, the businessman points out. He worked for five years (2004-2009) in the judicial and legal committee of the Federation Council, recalls Akhmedov. “Before and after that, I fought the most unusual corporate battle with the most powerful of this world (apparently, this means, in particular, Gazprom, with whom Akhmedov was suing over Northgas. — RBC). I easily studied their [British] jurisprudence and found how to protect myself with triple armor,” concludes RBC’s interlocutor.

Protected Assets

According to the English court, the businessman's assets are packaged in a trust in Bermuda, of which the businessman himself is the main beneficiary. The trustee of this trust is a Cyprus company, and its sole director is the businessman himself. The Cyprus company owns several offshore companies in Cyprus, the Isle of Man and Panama. And these offshore companies have already registered physical property, including 60% in a certain Moscow real estate property, a yacht, a private jet, a helicopter, a collection of art objects, as well as money and securities in an account in Switzerland.

The court alleges that in November 2016, shortly before the case was decided, the businessman took steps to “hide” his assets: the art collection was moved from one European country to another, and financial assets worth approximately $600 million were transferred to a new trust structure in one of the European countries. “It is clear enough that this transfer of assets was simply another attempt by the ex-husband to avoid his obligations,” the judge said.

It has not yet been possible to contact representatives of Tatyana Akhmedova. RBC sent a request to the Payne Hicks Beach company, which represents the interests of the applicant, and they promised to respond.

In British family law, situations often arise when it is difficult to enforce such court decisions if the debtor lives in another country and bases his financial transactions there, Toby Hales, a partner in the family department of the British law firm Seddons, tells RBC. But the English court has a number of tools that allow you to try to recover the awarded money from such a debtor. In the most extreme case, a judge can sentence such a person to prison in absentia if he considers that he has money, but he unreasonably refuses to pay, the lawyer notes.

Collecting funds overseas is a “much more complex, lengthy and expensive” procedure, says Hales. If we are talking about the European Union, then while the UK has not left it, European conventions are in force for it, which allow the recognition and execution of court decisions of one state in another EU state. But outside the European Union, it often turns out that foreign courts are very reluctant to accept decisions of British courts, especially given the large difference in approaches to the division of spouses’ property, the expert emphasizes.

Akhmedov is a native of Baku, he is 61 years old. In 1993, he became a shareholder of the gas company Northgas, and in November 2012 he sold 49% of Northgas to NOVATEK for $1.375 billion. The businessman invested part of the proceeds in shares of the same NOVATEK, as well as LUKOIL, Gazprom, Nornickel , Sberbank and Magnit, which are traded on the London and Moscow exchanges, Forbes magazine indicated. Akhmedov also sponsored an exhibition by Azerbaijani artist Farhad Khalilov at London's Saatchi Gallery in March 2015. In addition, he invested $55 million in the Aznar pomegranate juice plant in Azerbaijan, where his father Timur Akhmedov worked during Soviet times. In April 2017, Forbes estimated Farhad Akhmedov's fortune at $1.3 billion, placing him 67th in the ranking of the richest Russians.

Russian entrepreneur of Azerbaijani origin, statesman. According to Forbes magazine in 2014, he ranks 69th in the list of the richest Russians, with a fortune of $1.4 billion.

Financial interests

Chairman of the Board of Directors and shareholder CJSC "Aznar". In 2012, Akhmedov sold a 49% stake in Northgas "Novatek" for $1.375 billion. Part of the funds was invested in Novatek shares, "Lukoil", "Gazprom", "Norilsk Nickel", Sberbank And "Magnet".

Biography

Farhad Teymur ogly Akhmedov was born on September 15, 1955 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. In 1975 he graduated from Moscow vocational school No. 85 and served in the army. In 1983 he graduated from the Faculty of Commodity Science Moscow Veterinary Academy.

In 1986 he moved to UK, where he founded and headed the Farco Group holding, as well as an oil trading company Tansley Trading Limited. The latter was engaged in supplying equipment to Soviet gas enterprises.

In 1993, he received 5% in the Northgas joint venture created "Gazprom" and American Bechtel Energy. 1994 – President, member of the board of directors CJSC "Nortgas". Since 2001, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC Northgas. In 2012, he sold 49% of the company's shares.

2004 – member Federation Council from the Krasnodar region. 2007 – Member of the Federation Council from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

In July 2014, Farhad Akhmedov bought the world's largest expedition yacht called Luna, which was sold to him by none other than a Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. The yacht flies under the Azerbaijani flag.

Thanks to Akhmedov's personal initiative and sponsorship in the London gallery Saatchi in March 2015, the works of the Azerbaijani folk artist were exhibited Farhad Khalilov in the style of abstract expressionism.

In May 2015, Akhmedov purchased at auction "Sotheby's" work by American artist Mark Rothko "Nameless"(yellow and blue) for 46,5 million dollars.

Touches to the portrait

He is interested in backgammon and wood grouse hunting.

Collects paintings by Soviet artists of the 1960s in the social art genre.

Has four children and a grandson.

Gossip

Teymur Akhmedov, the father of a businessman, at one of the plenums of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan criticized Heydar Aliyev for "ignorance of economics." After this, one of Farhad's older brothers was expelled from CPSU, and the second one was expelled from the institute.

In 1969, Teymur Akhmedov was shot. Farhad had to quickly move to Moscow. Subsequently, Akhmedov invested $55 million in the Aznar pomegranate juice plant in Azerbaijan, where the businessman’s father once worked. At the same time, according to Akhmedov, he is on good terms with the current president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Akhmedov was often seen in the reception house "LogoVAZ", he repeatedly accompanied Boris Berezovsky on business trips. However, Akhmedov himself denies that he had any common projects with Berezovsky.

In 1999 Ministry of Natural Resources was going to revoke Northgas's license to develop Severno-Urengoyskoye field, since the company did not start work on time. According to Akhmedov, the reason for this was insufficient funding from Gazprom.

As a result, the businessman purchased equipment with his own money, paid off his debts and hired 200 employees, built roads to the field and all the necessary infrastructure. Northgas also carried out three share issues.

Since 2001, Northgas began production, and then Gazprom tried to take away the enterprise, using all levers of pressure. The corporation acted through the firm "Urengoygazprom", arbitration courts, Accounts Chamber.

In the end, the monopoly regained control of Northgas as part of a settlement agreement, without paying a penny and receiving 51% of the shares.