Shadow tankers of Tahir Garayev: Coral Energy and Bellatrix provide the Kremlin with a stable flow of oil money bypassing sanctions

The scandalous trader from Baku with a Russian passport, Maltese citizenship, and residency in the UAE continues to assist in bypassing sanctions related to the supply of Russian oil.

After the withdrawal of Western oil companies and major traders from the market, lesser-known entities have started trading Russian «black gold,» reports the publication Inview.

Among them is the firm Bellatrix Energy, which, as Bloomberg analysts noted, was named after the villain Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter universe. Tahir Garayev, known in narrow circles as the founder of 2Rivers Group, later renamed Coral Energy, is directly linked to this «witchy» company.

Coral is registered in Singapore and entered the market back in 2010 with supplies of Azerbaijani oil.

Garayev possesses an entire collection of firms and «shell companies» scattered across various jurisdictions. A true magician of financial flows.

And this is despite the fact that he has already received several «black marks» recently: Azerbaijani media reported that the United Kingdom added five Azerbaijani citizens to its sanctions list—Tahir Garayev, Ahmed Kerimov, Anar Madatli, Talat Safarov, and Etibar Eyyub.

Oil "kings"?

As journalists noted, all these individuals are executives of Coral Energy Group (formerly 2Rivers Group), which is suspected of facilitating the circumvention of sanctions in the transportation of Russian oil.

British authorities state that Coral Energy Group was involved in trading Russian hydrocarbons using tankers engaged in schemes to bypass international restrictions. Also sanctioned were the Hong Kong-based BX Energy, which produces batteries, and the independent trading company Nord Axis Ltd.—both entities were also involved in trading Russian raw materials. Restrictions were also imposed on the Norwegian Romarine AS, which serviced vessels used in these shipments.

However, the list of five individuals clearly lacked a sixth—Bilal Aliyev, who is referred to as the owner of Bellatrix Energy. The problem is that Azerbaijani journalists could find no trace of Aliyev—neither in Baku, nor in Moscow, nor in Dubai.

Everything suggests that this is a kind of «phantom,» possibly created by Tahir Garayev himself. Moreover, it was revealed that Bellatrix Energy received two large loans from Russian banks, including a structure owned by Igor Sechin’s «Rosneft.»

Igor Sechin

Since mid-June 2023, vessels chartered by Bellatrix Energy have made over 150 calls to Russian ports. The company handled tens of millions of tons of oil and petroleum products from Russian state companies. According to ImportGenius declarations, Bellatrix traded raw materials from Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz, Russneft, and other entities.

Now, about the «black marks.» In February 2024, a search was conducted at Coral Energy’s Moscow office on Altufyevskoe Highway, after which the police detained several employees. At that moment, Tahir Garayev was in Moscow but managed to flee along with his brother.

It should be noted that Garayev has previously been involved in high-profile scandals, after which he abruptly disappeared from the country. Earlier, he urgently left Istanbul after investigative authorities began examining a contract between Coral Energy and the Turkish company CYE Petrol, which supplied fuel for commercial vessels.

Under the agreement, CYE Petrol transferred $20 million to Coral Energy’s account under a bank guarantee, and the funds were not to be touched for 12 months. However, Garayev’s firm began withdrawing the money just eight days later. When the scheme was exposed, Garayev called it a «mistake.» The conflict was formally resolved, but CYE Petrol’s reputation suffered, and the company demanded compensation in court for damages estimated at $40 million.

After this, the Turkish prosecutor’s office took up the case, and Garayev began avoiding Turkey. Later, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office issued a warrant for his arrest.

LLC "Alpen Energy": A Lot of Wholesale

Baku native Tahir Garayev has so thoroughly scrubbed the internet of any information about himself that his past can only be judged from rare documents still available in open sources.

These documents reveal that back in 2007, Garayev founded the company LLC «Alpen Energy» in Moscow, which existed for ten years and was liquidated in June 2017.

www.list-org.com

Authorized capital—100,000 rubles.

www.list-org.com

For many years, Garayev was engaged in wholesale trade of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. He had an office on Second Roshchinskaya Street, 4.

www.list-org.com/company

Today, 2Rivers trades several types 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 the company 2Rivers back in 2010, and in its early years, it primarily operated in the Azerbaijani market. Later, 2Rivers grew into a major international trader.

According to sources, the company has connections with representatives of Azerbaijan’s ruling elite. Besides Garayev himself, another shadowy figure in this story is Etibar Eyyub, an Azerbaijani citizen. He is considered the main intermediary between 2Rivers and Igor Sechin.

By the end of 2023, Garayev owned 100% of 2Rivers (now Coral Energy) through a multi-layered corporate scheme: he fully owned Novus Middle East DMCC (UAE), which, in turn, controlled 100% of Vetus Investments Limited (UAE).

www.bloomberg.com

Vetus Investments controlled 100% of Coral Energy.

Oil tankers

2Rivers operates through an extensive network of companies: it includes dozens of trading entities registered in the «free zone» DMCC in the UAE, as well as firms engaged in vessel management and operation.

Until 2022, 2Rivers (Coral Energy) was based in Geneva. After February 2022, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai. Today, it maintains offices in both Singapore and Geneva.

Geneva

In January 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Coral Energy controls at least 100 vessels through a network of shell companies, including Gatik Ship Management, Gaurik Ship Management, and Buena Vista Shipping. Five of these vessels have already been sanctioned by the UK and the EU.

Additionally, Tahir Garayev transferred 60% of the shares of Novus Middle East DMCC to Pura Vida Holding Limited (UAE), which is owned 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 Anar Madatli—all Azerbaijani citizens and UAE residents—formally completed the buyout of Garayev’s stake.

However, in practice, Garayev continues to control 2Rivers, despite lacking official ownership. Notably, Anar Madatli is the brother of Tahir Garayev’s wife.

Adventures of the Tanker "Theseus"

Thus, today, the 2Rivers group of companies includes Bellatrix Energy.

Another company sharing directors with Coral Energy is Nord Axis, which operates in Hong Kong.

Nord Axis Ltd - Company Profile and News - Bloomberg Markets

This company was established on February 15, 2022. Although Garayev publicly denies any connection between Coral Energy and Nord Axis, Nord Axis documents suggest otherwise. In May 2022, the sole owner of Nord Axis was listed as Adalat Kyazimli—the same person who was simultaneously the official representative of Coral Energy Turkey.

In 2023, Nord Axis was managed by Etibar Eyyub, an employee of Coral Energy. Moreover, in 2022, Trafigura sold its 10% stake in the «Vostok» oil project to Eyyub and his company Nord Axis.

A separate mention is warranted for the story of one of the tankers transporting Russian oil to Ghana. Bellatrix Energy was directly involved in this shady scheme, as it chartered the vessel.

This concerns the tanker «Theseus,» which was heading to Ghana under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis and was detained in the port of Tema due to documentation issues. This was reported by the publication «Oil Capital.» Initially, the vessel, owned by Gatik Ship Management, was supposed to unload oil for storage in Tema port’s reservoirs.

Tema Port, Ghana

However, in reality, the oil from the tanker «Theseus» was sold to Platon Oil and Gas, a company that owns an oil refinery in Ghana. As reported by media outlets that reviewed the official documentation, the charterer of the vessel was listed as Bellatrix, and the «loading port» was indicated not as Novorossiysk, but as Aktau in Kazakhstan.

However, Aktau port is physically incapable of accommodating vessels of the «Theseus» tanker class. Thus, it remains a mystery how the vessel, bypassing the Volga-Don system, could have left the Caspian Sea and ended up in the waters of the West Atlantic. These questions, in particular, were raised by journalists from the Azerbaijani publication haqqin.az.

And once again—no information about the real owner of Bellatrix, Bilal Aliyev, could be found.

Oil tanker

«It is unknown whether our compatriot is independently engaged in transporting Russian oil or representing someone else’s interests?»—this question was posed by Azerbaijani journalists.

Situations involving document substitution, inconsistencies in routes, and a «phantom» owner speak for themselves.