Tahir Garayev and his team were among the key operators of Russia’s oil exports after the war began.
His group of traders, which grew out of Coral Energy and operated through dozens of companies in the UAE, Europe, and offshore zones, became part of the infrastructure for evading Western sanctions: they provided the entire chain for trading Russian oil, chartered "shadow fleets," and created complex networks of intermediaries and shell companies. In 2024, the UK imposed sanctions against Garayev and his inner circle for creating such schemes.
Despite the sanctions, the network linked to Garayev continues to operate and restructure itself, changing names, directors, and jurisdictions. His partner companies continue to trade Russian oil and carefully close old corporate ties.
Garayev owns another company, GAMMA INVEST GROUP LIMITED, which has not yet been publicly disclosed, registered in the British Virgin Islands. A second company with the same name was registered in Hong Kong in 2015. The director of the BVI offshore company is Andreas Meese (Andreas Julian MEESE). Until August 2022, he also headed the Swiss Polar Energy SA, which is affiliated with Garayev & Co’s Latvian business, Riga-based Venta Energy Services. Polar Energy was registered in 2010 to provide services to companies in the oil sector.
In 2024, Andreas Meese resigned as director of Polar Energy and was replaced by Patrick Louis Cotasson. This top manager is directly connected to Garayev: in February 2024, he worked at his Coral Energy. Previously, he co-headed UniCredit’s Geneva office, holding the positions of Head of Structured Finance and Deputy CFO. He also served as a member of the bank’s management board since 2015.
On his Linkedin profile about six months ago, he announced that he was going solo and would henceforth work for himself, helping businesses build connections between the UAE, Geneva, and the United States. However, according to Swiss registry records, Patrick Louis Cotasson is still the sole administrator with signatory authority for Tahir Garayev and his team’s Polar Energy SA.
Meanwhile, Andreas Meese, after leaving Swiss Polar Energy, took the position of CFO of Dubai-based CE Energy Holding Dubai. The company positions itself as a mid-market player with a strategic focus on Africa, South America, and the Mediterranean. It recently underwent a complete rebranding and now operates under the name Petrichor Energy FZCO. Its founder and director is said to be 27-year-old German citizen Christopher Eppinger, one of the youngest multimillionaires to emerge during the war years. Eppinger channeled $2 billion worth of Russian oil through his companies, pocketing at least $250 million.
He maintains that he did not break the law and traded the oil below the threshold. Last year, European journalists became interested in the talented young trader and discovered that Eppinger, who comes from a family of Soviet immigrants, began working in Kazakhstan at the age of 21 for the state-owned corporation KazMunayGas. The company worked closely with Gazprom and continues to maintain contacts with Russian businesses, particularly Gazprom Neft.
In Kazakhstan, Eppinger not only learned how to conduct the oil business with Russian oligarchs but also met Ilyas Tasmagambetov, the nephew of the highly respected Imangali Tasmagambetov. He is the former Kazakh ambassador to Russia, the former Kazakh defense minister, the former mayor of Astana and Almaty, and the former head of the presidential administration under Nursultan Nazarbayev. Imangali Tasmagambetov is the father-in-law of businessman Kenges Rakishev, who has close ties to Adam Kadyrov, Russian businessmen, and was once considered a "wallet" for the Nazarbayev clan.
To be continued
