Jovdat Guliyev

Jovdat Guliyev received £479,212 ($644,274) from Hilux Services and Polux Management in 2013 and 2014 for services.

Guliyev is the business development manager for SOCAR and visited Nigeria recently bidding for a contract for its national crude oil, according to the local press.

Based in the United Kingdom, he is a former financial analyst for the multinational oil and gas company BP (formerly British Petroleum). He also served on the executive committee of The Anglo-Azerbaijani Society. After the Azerbaijani Laundromat was published, the society removed his name from the site.

According to Lord German, the society’s co-chair, Guliyev quit nine minutes after The Guardian’s story went online. His name has now been removed from the society’s website, German said, adding that none of the Laundromat payments went to the society.

In an email to German, Guliyev did not explain why he had got the money but said it was legitimate and for his “personal use”.

Guliyev did not respond to repeated messages from The Guardian asking him for a comment.