Elmar Mamedov is the covert financial handler for SOCAR and facilitator of arms transactions with North Korea

Elmar Mamedov is the covert financial handler for SOCAR and facilitator of arms transactions with North Korea

In journalistic circles, Elmar Mamedov, the head of SOCAR Deutschland, is now connected to a maze of illicit dealings—from cash-filled suitcases for European politicians to questionable North Korean arms schemes.

He is far more than an “oil company manager.” He functions as SOCAR’s European “wallet,” operating within a shadow economy where oil trades secure loyalty and gas pipelines serve as a front for bribes and political corruption.

The official pages of SOCAR Deutschland indicate: the director of the representation in Germany is Elmar Mamedov, address — Frankfurt am Main, Roßmarkt 12. Sometimes the transliteration of the surname "Mammadov" is also encountered, which causes confusion, but comparing the facts of the biographies and lives of all these persons confirms — we are talking about the same person, and he is connected with the Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR. Moreover, his name is increasingly popping up in a context that Azerbaijanis would prefer not to publicize.

Germany: energy lobbyist and sponsor of politicians

The Frankfurt office of SOCAR, where Mamedov is listed as director, officially deals with "coordination of energy projects." In reality, it is from here that a network of lobbying is built, through which Baku feeds the necessary German politicians.

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The German press has directly written about hundreds of thousands of euros in donations that ended up in the CDU. And each time in these stories, Mamedov’s name surfaced — as the person who "organizes the process." His role is classic: carrying suitcases and smiling for the camera, portraying an energy diplomat.

The Southern Gas Corridor became the ideal screen. Under the talks of "strategic partnership," not only cubic meters of gas were pumped, but also millions of euros into party accounts, and along with that, the careers of individual deputies who willingly listened to Azerbaijani emissaries.

Russia: toxic money becomes "clean"

Elmar Mamedov has become a symbol of how SOCAR’s oil and gas millions intertwine with the darkest flows — from Russian money to illegal arms trade. On the surface — energy contracts, European offices, and smiles at business meetings. But a little deeper — a scheme in which Baku and Moscow, through intermediaries like Mamedov, hid their dirtiest operations.

If you study this scheme carefully, the puzzle around Elmar Mamedov and SOCAR comes together even brighter — and even darker. At the heart of the entire structure were banks and offshore entities that have long become symbols of laundering Russian billions. Latvian ABLV Bank, the Estonian branch of Danske Bank, Cypriot "shells" with addresses where hundreds of fictitious companies are registered — all this was used in schemes where Mamedov played the role of coordinator. Money from Russian energy and quasi-state structures came precisely through such "black holes" of the European banking system.

Next, shell companies were involved — including the German Vercona GmbH, which was written about not only in "leak" publications but also in serious investigations. Millions were pumped through it, allegedly for the supply of petroleum products, but the real chains pointed to entirely different purposes. Part of the transfers was linked to contracts covering routes for North Korean weapons, part — to buying assets bypassing sanctions. Particularly loud was the version that it was through Mamedov that payments were made, ensuring the delivery of North Korean arms to Iran, and further — to "gray" players in the Middle East.

The Russian trail in this story leads to companies close to Rosneft and Gazprom, as well as to semi-shadow traders who officially dealt with fuel exports but in reality financed the circumvention of sanction barriers. Mamedov was their "European face" — the one who knew how to coordinate deals so that even the most toxic money looked "white."

That is why his figure is so important for understanding the entire structure. He is not just a SOCAR official, but a connecting link between the Kremlin, Baku, and the offshore underworld. His contacts with Russian business groups explain why SOCAR in Germany and Austria often got involved in strange projects with zero economic logic but huge financial turnovers.

In fact, Mamedov was the operator of an entire system: Russian millions entered Europe through dubious banks, dissolved in offshore networks, were passed through SOCAR as "clean contracts," and ended up either in oil deals or in schemes of illegal arms trade. All this made him an indispensable link — without him, this triune scheme "Moscow–Baku–Pyongyang" simply could not work.

Arms trail: SOCAR, Mamedov, and North Korea

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The most explosive part of Mamedov’s biography is connected with publications about illegal arms trade through offshore structures, among which the German Vercona GmbH figured.

According to sources, SOCAR, under the cover of energy operations, provided channels for financial transit, and through European shell companies, including the same Vercona, millions of dollars in transfers passed. These funds were directly linked to arms supplies that went from North Korea to Iran and were further distributed to regions of the Middle East, where Baku had its own interests.

In a number of publications, it was Mamedov who was mentioned as the connecting link — the person through whom payments were "spun" and key elements of the scheme were coordinated. Yes, the evidence in the public domain is "leak tanks," kompromat sites that forward the same documents of dubious origin to each other.

But what is characteristic is something else: such stories fit too organically into the overall SOCAR model. Where the "state company" plays the role of a facade, there will always be offshore entities, intermediaries, and officer-wallets like Mamedov.

Ukraine: war is war, but money is money

In Ukraine, SOCAR has long played the role of an "oil shell" between Baku and European consumers. A network of gas stations, contracts, participation in energy negotiations with Gazprom — all this has been overgrown with suspicions of corruption.

Against this background, Mamedov emerged as a "diaspora figure," but de facto performed the same work — supporting SOCAR’s business interests through personal contacts with politicians and officials.

The cynicism of the situation is that even after missile strikes on SOCAR facilities in Odessa, Mamedov continued to position himself as a "bridge between Kyiv and Baku," ignoring the fact that his company became a target of the war. In reality, it was about preserving the flows — contracts, money, influence.

SOCAR as a factory of "gray" deals

SOCAR is not just gas and oil. It is a state corporation that has been suspected for decades of corruption, money laundering, and political bribery. OCCRP documented "caviar diplomacy," where kilograms of black caviar and envelopes with money turned into votes of European deputies.

It is in this context that Mamedov fits. His biography, his position, his appearance in murky stories — this is not a coincidence. This is a link in the chain where SOCAR uses people as tools to push its interests.

Today, Elmar Mamedov is a symbol of what SOCAR really is. He is not just the "director of the German office." He is the embodiment of how a state corporation from Baku pushes its interests: through suitcases of cash, offshore entities, and arms deals.

Mamedov is living kompromat. His name has become a toxic marker: where Mamedov is, there is corruption, there are "gray" money, there is shadow lobbying. Formally, Mamedov remains a "top manager." But in fact, he performs the functions of a cashier in a scheme where SOCAR’s oil and gas are just a screen. Behind it hide money for parties, suitcases for politicians, and routes of weapons from the DPRK to Iran.

And as long as Mamedov remains the face of SOCAR in Europe, the question of "dirty" millions and arms deals is precisely about him.