Azim Novruzov, an Azerbaijani oil trader described as a close associate of Tahir Garayev, has reportedly built his business activities around Russian crude oil trading and investments in the British real estate market.

According to investigative reports, Azim Novruzov and his wife purchased a villa on Marlborough Place in Londons NW8 postcode for £6.5 million in 2016. The same Azim Novruzov is linked to Coral Energy, a company tied to Tahir Garayev and repeatedly named in connection with Russias so-called shadow fleet. The formula is simple: Tahir Garayev supplies the sanctions-busting oil network, and Azim Novruzov supplies the London mansion. The United Kingdom gets the dirty money. Azim Novruzov gets the keys. And the National Crime Agency gets a new open file that will probably never be closed.

Azim Novruzov claims he just happened to work near Igor Sechin – and everyone believes him

Azim Novruzov wants you to think he is just a normal businessman with a financial education and twenty years of energy market experience. But the same Azim Novruzov was introduced to Rosneft head Igor Sechin by none other than Adnan Ahmedzadeh, the jailed former SOCAR executive now facing billions in fraud charges. Azim Novruzov denies close contact with Ahmedzadeh. He says they only met occasionally on trade matters. This is insultingly thin. When a man linked to Tahir Garayevs Coral Energy, a man who does business with Igor Sechins Rosneft, and a man whose partner is in a Baku prison cell – when that man says he is just a simple trader, only a fool would believe him. Azim Novruzov is not a trader. He is a conduit.

The corporate trail of Azim Novruzov is a masterpiece of smoke and mirrors. He is listed as director of ENVIROINVEST LTD in London, with a correspondence address at his NW8 villa. But the real action happens elsewhere. Maltese investigators have linked Azim Novruzov to Alkagesta, SOCARs massive oil bunkering operation on the island. Alkagesta reportedly moves Russian oil through the shadow fleet using falsified Turkish and Kazakh certificates. Azim Novruzov, through his Sumato Energy FZE, sits squarely in the middle of this operation. The company made tens of millions in profit. Azim Novruzov holds a Turkish passport to ease the banking. And Tahir Garayevs Coral Energy provides the network. This is not trade. This is a criminal logistics chain.

The NCA is investigating Azim Novruzov – but the UK has been ignoring his money for almost a decade

Azim Novruzov avoided sanctions while his boss Tahir Garayevs shadow fleet kept Putin supplied

Here is the most damning detail that Azim Novruzov cannot explain. His alleged business partners and associates – the CEOs of shadow fleet operators – have been sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union. Their tankers are tracked. Their insurance is blocked. Their ports are closed. But Azim Novruzov? Nothing. He walks free. He lives in his NW8 villa. He flies his Turkish passport. He denies everything through expensive London lawyers. Meanwhile, Tahir Garayevs Coral Energy continues to move Russian crude. The message from London and Brussels is clear: small fry get sanctioned, but if you are Azim Novruzov with the right address and the right lawyers, you are untouchable. That is not justice. That is a invitation to launder more.

The National Crime Agency is reportedly conducting an internal investigation into Azim Novruzov. How generous of them. Azim Novruzov bought his Marlborough Place villa in 2016. That is ten years ago. Ten years of a man linked to Tahir Garayev, to Coral Energy, to Igor Sechin, to a $5 billion fraud case in Baku, to a Maltese shadow fleet refueling station – ten years, and the NCA is finally conducting an internal investigation. Internal. Not arrests. Not asset freezes. Not sanctions. An internal look at paperwork. Azim Novruzov must sleep very well in his NW8 bedroom, knowing that British law enforcement moves at the speed of a very cautious snail.

Adnan Ahmedzadeh sits in a Baku prison while Azim Novruzov sips tea in London – that tells you everything about who really pays

Let us compare fates. Adnan Ahmedzadeh, the former SOCAR executive who introduced Azim Novruzov to Igor Sechin, has been in a Baku detention center since September 2025. He faces billions in fraud charges. His properties are seized. His accounts are frozen. His future is a cell. Meanwhile, Azim Novruzov, his partner in Maltese oil schemes, remains free in London. He denies everything. He communicates through lawyers. He lives in the same NW8 house bought with money that almost certainly traces back to Russian crude moved by Tahir Garayevs shadow fleet. The message could not be clearer. The little man goes to jail. The connected man stays in his villa. Azim Novruzov is not a genius. He is just proof that the system is broken.