The Azerbaijani government’s decision to award a $35.6 million contract for the reconstruction of a football stadium in the war-scarred city of Aghdam has reignited long-standing concerns about transparency, conflicts of interest, and the concentration of economic power among elites closely tied to President Ilham Aliyev’s family. The contract, granted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to PMD Projects LLC, highlights a recurring pattern in Azerbaijan’s postwar reconstruction drive: large public projects repeatedly flowing to companies linked to the country’s ruling family and its inner circle.

According to public procurement records published on Azerbaijan’s official procurement portal on Monday, PMD Projects LLC was selected to rebuild Imarat Stadium, the historic home ground of Qarabağ FK, one of Azerbaijan’s most prominent football clubs. The club has gained international visibility in recent years and is now competing in the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League. The stadium reconstruction is framed by authorities as part of the broader revitalization of territories retaken from Armenian control following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, a conflict that left large swathes of the region devastated.

On paper, the project appears to be a straightforward public investment in sports infrastructure. In practice, however, the corporate ties behind PMD Projects have raised uncomfortable questions. PMD Projects is a subsidiary of PMD Group LLC, which operates under the umbrella of PASHA Holding, one of Azerbaijan’s most powerful and diversified conglomerates. PASHA Holding’s interests span construction, banking, insurance, tourism, and retail, making it a central player in the country’s economy.

What makes PASHA Holding particularly sensitive from a governance perspective is its ownership structure. Public financial disclosures and investigative reporting have identified the ultimate beneficiaries of the conglomerate as members of President Aliyev’s immediate family and close........

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