The Azerbaijan ministry assigns $36 million for the renovation of a stadium to a company associated with President Aliyev's family

The Azerbaijan ministry assigns $36 million for the renovation of a stadium to a company associated with President Aliyev's family

While President Ilham Aliyev has publicly criticized corruption among state officials, the Ministry of Youth and Sports awarded a $36 million contract to a company owned by members of his family.

The Azerbaijani government has awarded a $35.6 million state contract to rebuild a football stadium in the city of Aghdam to a construction firm tied to a conglomerate owned by members of President Ilham Aliyev’s family, according to public procurement records.

The contract underscores broader concerns about transparency and conflicts of interest in Azerbaijan’s postwar reconstruction drive as the government pours public funds into rebuilding territories recaptured from Armenia after the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, while repeatedly awarding major projects to companies with political links. 

The contract was granted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to PMD Projects LLC and published Monday on Azerbaijan’s public procurement portal. It covers the reconstruction of Imarat Stadium, the former home of Qarabağ FK, a leading Azerbaijani football club now competing in the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League.

PMD Projects is a subsidiary of PMD Group LLC, which has been described as operating under the umbrella of PASHA Holding, one of the country’s largest business conglomerates whose ultimate beneficiaries, according to public financial disclosures, include the president’s two daughters, Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva; his father-in-law, Arif Pashayev; and his wife’s cousin, Mir Jamal Pashayev.

The project was publicly launched at a high-profile ceremony in September 2024, when President Aliyev presided over the laying of the stadium’s foundation stone, joined by his son, Heydar Aliyev, and the minister of youth and sports, Farid Gayibov. A presidential statement said the 19-hectare complex would include an 11,700-seat stadium, training facilities, VIP suites and commercial space.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports did not respond to requests for comment.

Design work on the Imarat stadium complex is being overseen by Design Bureau LLC, according to a company LinkedIn post. Azerbaijan’s investigative outlet Abzas Media has previously reported that the Design Bureau has shared an address and personnel with both PMD Group and PASHA Holding, and has itself received government reconstruction contracts.