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.
UPDATE: After this story was published, Azerbaijan’s public procurement portal was updated to add a second recipient to the football stadium contract. In addition to PMD Projects, the site also now lists the “İnşaatçi 3 LLC consortium.” Officials have provided no explanation for the addition and have not replied to requests for comment.
Screenshots capturing the changes to the portal are below:
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Credit:etender.gov.az
Prior to publication, the portal displayed PMD Project as the contract recipient.
Credit:etender.gov.az
On the day after publication, a second contract recipient was added — and the contract amount was increased by 100x.
Credit:etender.gov.az
On the following Monday, the contract amount was reverted to the previous amount. The newly added company remained.
Credit:etender.gov.az
This screenshot displays the full name of the newly added company.
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Credit:
etender.gov.az
Prior to publication, the portal displayed PMD Project as the contract recipient.
Credit:etender.gov.az
On the day after publication, a second contract recipient was added — and the contract amount was increased by 100x.
Credit:etender.gov.az
On the following Monday, the contract amount was reverted to the previous amount. The newly added company remained.
Credit:etender.gov.az
This screenshot displays the full name of the newly added company.
The newly added company is not a prominent name, and its shareholders are not disclosed. But it is part of a major construction conglomerate, ARGS Holding, that has built large apartment buildings with names like “Megacity” and “Chocolate Tower” across Baku and other Azerbaijani cities.
ARGS Holding does not advertise its owners. But several other firms that fall under its umbrella are tied to Arif Rahimov, a businessman whose late father was Azerbaijan’s previous Youth and Sports minister.
One of them, DDLAR Insat, was headed by Rahimov, as his father told the BBC Azerbaijan service in 2019. Another, Azerfloat CJSC, appears to be linked to Rahimov’s wife.
The publicly listed legal representative of İnşaatçi 3, Geys Sirajli, also partners with Rahimov in several of these ventures.
Rahimov was previously best-known as the long-time director of the organization behind Azerbaijan’s Formula 1 Grand Prix. He left the position after his father’s death in 2021.
He and Sirajli did not respond to requests for comment.
