Emin Agalarov, son of Araz Agalarov, a Russia-based billionaire subject to sanctions over the Russia-Ukraine war, is contracted to provide accommodations for up to 5,000 guests. Azerbaijan government institutions are keeping the details of public funding hidden.

Emin Agalarov is contracted to provide accommodations to foreign guests coming to Baku for the 29th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention of Climate Change (COP29). Agalarov is a pop music singer who is divorced from the daughter of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.

Documents of the Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control State Service under the Ministry of Economy show a procurement contract worth 9 million manat ($US5.3 million) was signed between the State Housing Construction Agency and Sea Breeze Construction LLC, a company owned by the Agalarovs.

The contract signed, not after a tender but using a single-source procurement method, is for temporary accommodation for COP29 participants from May to December of 2024.

Screenshot: "etender.gov.az"

The purchase contract was granted to Emin Agalarov's company on June 20. In an interview on "Persona" YouTube channel around that time he did not mention anything about a multi-million manat contract related to COP29. He did explain how the idea to construct the Sea Breeze recreation and residential complex, stretching 6.5 kilometers on 500 hectares along the Caspian Sea, came to his mind.

"Two factors influenced it," he said. "In the 80s, my parents had a summer house in Nardaran. I had this idea 17 years ago when I started spending more time here. It was not very comfortable for living. There was no infrastructure. Land costs were very cheap. I started buying land plots slowly."

The history of these "land deals" go back to 2007. According to a 2021 judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), a lease agreement between the Association for the Development and Exploitation of Gardens and 18 residents of Nardaran under the Baku City Executive Authority (BCEA) was suspended by the Kurdakhani Municipality without informing the residents.

On June 20, 2007, BCEA transferred 30 hectares, including these gardens, to the Kurdakhani Municipality. On October 12 of that year, that municipality sold these lands to a "Company K." in accordance with a BCEA order.

The Azerbaijan service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) story, stated that the "Company K" found in court documents was Crocus Group LLC, a group of companies belonging to the Agalarov family.

Problems began two years before these transactions. In 2005, persons claiming to be local residents repeatedly demolished the fences of the gardens, unlawfully occupied the gardens, and made it impossible to use the gardens, according to court documents.

The Sabunchu District Police Department refused to institute criminal proceedings despite a number of complaints. The ECHR in 2021 ruled that there were violations of rights to property and fair trial. The ECHR ordered the Azerbaijan government to pay 18 people 234,000 euros for the land plots, which had been sold to the Agalarovs.

The original legal disputes took place a few months following Emin Agalarov’s 2006 marriage to Leyla Aliyeva. The couple divorced in 2015. Emin Agalarov's Sea Breeze project continued.

Sea Breeze resort on the cost of the Caspian sea. Screenshots: Google Earth

His father Araz, founder and CEO of Crocus Group, is of Azerbaijan origin. He is one of the billionaires known for close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2013, Putin awarded Araz Agalarov an Order of Honor of the Russian Federation. State Register of Sanctions of Ukraine has included Araz and Emin Agalarov’s name on the Russia-Ukraine war sanctions lists.

Araz Agalarov has received a medal from Vladimir Putin. Photo: Araz Agalarov’s "X" account 

​The Agalarov Development  website states that Emin Agalarov left Crocus Group in 2023 to focus on his own projects.

According to the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan, Elbay Rzayev was appointed the legal representative of Sea Breeze Construction LLC, when the company was registered in 2022. Rzayev's Linkedin profile states that since 2018, he has been the general affairs manager of Crocus Group. 

Domain information on the Sea Breeze Construction LLC website confirms that its organizer was Crocus LLC. The name was later changed to Sea Breeze Invest LLC.

Screenshot: "whois.az"  Photo: "seabreeze.az"

There is no public information about Sea Breeze Construction LLC on the official web page of Crocus Group. But the Crocus Linkedin account states that the elite Sea Breeze settlement located on the Caspian coast operates under the umbrella of Crocus Group.
Screenshot: the website of StateTax Service 

"Sea Breeze" resort is among COP29 guest hotels

Emin Agalarov's speech to a Sea Breeze Investment forum in late May 2024 sounded like an announcement for the contract to be awarded to his company in June.

"Thanks to cooperation with the government, we will be able to build and develop even more actively this year," he told the audience. “We are pleased to support the organization of the large-scale COP29 event and host up to 5,000 guests at Sea Breeze. All of this is the result of long-term work and the professionalism of many people."

The State Housing Construction Agency has never announced this 9 million manat procurement. The agency and  Agalarov Development  declined to answer questions about which hotels belonging to Sea Breeze Construction LLC would be chosen to accommodate climate conference guests. 

"Abzas Media" journalists have identified "Park Residences" among the hotels on the official website of COP29. This residential complex belongs to the Sea Breeze resort. 

Screenshot: "cop29.az"

Government agencies are not very keen to talk about the Sea Breeze project. Only Javanshir Bayramov, deputy chairman of the Management Board of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau, has said publicly that new residential complexes at Sea Breeze will undergo rapid preparations for COP29.