Asif Zeynalov started as GL CEO in April 2019. With over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in various technical and leadership roles, he is responsible for the overall success of GL and for creating, planning, implementing, and integrating the strategic direction of the Company.

Asif started his career at SOCAR Oil Refinery as a Mechanic in 1984, followed by his service in the army as a Border Guard from 1985 to 1987. After graduating from university, Asif continued his professional career as a Fire Prevention Officer at SOCAR Oil Refinery from 1992 to 1995. Asif started his career with bp in 1995 and held a number of roles through 2019 including: 

• General Manager, Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula PSA (SWAP), Baku, Azerbaijan - responsible for the creation and management of a new low-cost Operating Organization for SWAP, leveraging international experiences and best practices to effectively deliver all phases from exploration through to production;
• Regional Director of Logistics & Infrastructure Baku, Azerbaijan - responsible for defining and deploying the regional logistics strategy and capabilities in support of all Upstream logistics and infrastructure operations to support Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey Region. Accepted full responsibility for a $700 million budget, a team of 100 bp employees, and over 6000 contractors;
• Head of Operations in Rumaila oilfield in Basra, Iraq – responsible for all upstream operations in the Rumaila oilfield to support bp’s new award Technical Services Agreement.  Accepted full P&L and management leadership for the second-largest oil and gas production field in the world generating in excess of 10.5 billion barrels of oil. Recruited 100 expats and mobilized them in the country to direct 3,100 employees and more than 2,000 contractors. Managed a $420 million operating budget. Served as Incident Commander;
• Operations Manager in East Texas, USA, - responsible for oil and gas operation in East Texas comprised of 1,100 production wells, 40+ field compression stations, wellhead compression units, and 1,200 miles of pipelines and gas gathering systems across five counties;
• Sangachal Oil & Gas Processing Terminal Manager,  Azerbaijan – responsible for one of the largest industrial complexes in the world comprised of a team of over 750, a $57 million operating budget, seven oil processing trains, a high-pressure gas facility with throughput of 500 million standard cubic feet. Led the integration and commissioning of a new oil and gas processing Terminal that boosted production from 145,000 MMBOD to 850,000 MMBOD.

In 2004 Asif was awarded the "Tərəqqi" Medal (“Progress Medal”) by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan for his special contributions to the oil and gas sector of the country

Asif:

• Holds B.Sc. Degree in Transportation Engineering from the Technical University of Azerbaijan;
• Holds B.Sc. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State Oil Academy of Azerbaijan;
• Graduated from the Operations Academy of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management, USA;
• Graduated from Leadership Development Program in UK in 2002;
• Is qualified in oil&gas management of major emergencies, managed a number of big-scale emergencies off-shore and on-shore.

Gilbert Beuhler was appointed as the GL Group’s Senior Vice-President for Technical Functions and International Operations in October, 2024.

He has over 35 years of experience in all aspects of field development and reservoir management.

Gilbert has extensive international experience in brownfield redevelopment and production optimization, combining a track record of delivering rapid engagement and results with world class reservoir and production management practices.

Prior to joining GL, Gilbert held numerous management positions with bp and Exxon. He led key roles, including Production VP for BP Russia and bp / Rosneft redevelopment project in Siberia.

Additionally, he served as General Manager for the Iraq Kurdistan Project and held positions as Reservoir Development VP for Middle East Oil and Project Manager for the Rumaila field in Basra, Iraq.

Furthermore, he served as Brownfield Director for TNK-BP in Russia and as Reservoir Development Manager for the Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska, USA.

Gilbert holds a B.Sc. Degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Kansas, USA.

Elman Seyidov was appointed as the GL Group’s Senior Vice-President for Operations in Azerbaijan in October, 2024.

Elman brings with him a wide experience in managing safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations. He has extensive strategic and tactical experience in Operations Leadership in production operations working in very challenging and sophisticated environments. Elman is a qualified Mechanical Engineer, with over 30 years of various technical industry experiences. During the last 18 plus years, Elman worked for bp in Azerbaijan in a number of Technical and Leadership positions including, but not limited to, Shah Deniz Area Operations Manager, Azeri Area Operations Manager, Regional Production Manager, with his last position as a Regional Sub-Sea Operations Manager. On top of this extensive experience, Elman has also worked for bp in the North Sea.

Elman had held the following positions:

• bp Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli Subsea Operations Manager. His responsibilities included managing complex Subsea systems and equipment operation with the interface of it with entire Subsea Wells/pipelines and top side Operations.
• Area Operations Manager for Shad Deniz and Azeri Area in bp Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Region. Managed a big operation organization and a number of offshore oil and gas
  platforms and associated different function support in a safe and reliable way.
• Production Manager for bp Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli. Managed a technical forecast
  of production and planned it with a focus on timely delivery and played the key role for communications with partners and the ministry.
• Offshore Installation Manager in bp Caspian. Was responsible for safe and reliable operations and managed an offshore Logistic and Drilling operation and associated risks and mitigations.

Elman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering for oil and gas field equipment.

Emil was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer, GL reporting to the CEO in May 2020. Emil has over 10 years of audit and financial background in various fields (telecommunications, oil & gas, construction, retail, real estate, hospitality, travel, and agriculture). He has had extensive experience in setting up internal operational, and financial controls, and processes in newly established and expanding businesses. Key roles included:

• Project Manager and Financial Controller, FoodCity Agropark, Baku, Azerbaijan
•  Financial Controller, Pasha Construction Group of Companies, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Finance Manager, Pasha Construction Group of Companies, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Head of Internal Audit Department, Pasha Construction Group of Companies, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Finance Manager, Saffron Hospitality Group, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Revenue Assurance Manager, Azerfon, Baku, Azerbaijan
• Senior Auditor, E&Y (Telecom & Oil & Gas Team), Baku, Azerbaijan

 Emil is FCCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) qualified.

Farida Aghayeva was appointed as the Group Chief Human Resources Officer, GL reporting to the CEO in November 2021.

She has over 15 years of diverse HR experience in national and international construction as well as oil and gas marine EPCI companies, having held several senior roles throughout. Farida has extensive experience in setting up and operating HR and Training functions for large-scale complex company operations. Farida has held the following positions:

• Deputy General Manager, Human Resources at Baku Steel Company, overseeing all human resources functions for over 1500 employees and developing the human resources strategy to support organizational objectives and growth.
• Human Resources Manager at Baku Steel Company, overseeing all human resources functions, training, and development of employees, as well as the set up and streamlining of the processes and procedures that ensured effectiveness and compliance.
• Senior Human Resources Administrator, McDermott Caspian Contractors, Inc., managing all human resources activities for expatriate personnel supporting multiple projects in the region.

Farida holds an MBA and BBA degrees from Azerbaijan State Economic University. She also studied Finance at West Texas A&M University.

Parviz Tahmazov was appointed as the Legal Director reporting to the CEO of GL effective June 1st, 2022. 

Parviz joined us from bp, where he worked for the last 10.5 years as a Counsel in the Legal Department for bp Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Region (AGTR) overseeing legal affairs of various assets, functions, and disciplines, and most recently leading the work of the AGTR compliance risk monitoring team, supporting the management of concerns process and assisting the activity of the advisory/communications team within bp AGTR’s Ethics and Compliance team.  Parviz also spent more than 5 years with Grata International law firm as a Senior Lawyer, leading predominantly commercial/corporate/oil&gas law streams, prior to which he acted as a Rule of Law Staff Attorney for about 5 years in the office of American Bar Association in Azerbaijan, and also as a national legal expert for a number of The World Bank Group-funded projects.

Parviz holds BA degrees in International Relations and Law from Khazar University.

Parviz also serves as a Deputy Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of Azerbaijan Antidoping Agency. 

Nazar Bayramov was appointed as Chief Procurement Officer reporting to the Chief Executive Officer of GL LTD effective April 17, 2023.

Nazar is a highly qualified procurement professional with an extensive experience of almost twenty years in the oil and gas across a range of categories and operating functions. He has held various senior-level procurement leadership roles within bp Azerbaijan managing multi-million spend within high complexity and risk areas. During his time at bp, Nazar has gained deep expertise in wells and logistics contracting, sourcing, and supplier performance management.

In his last role prior to joining GL, he held the role of bp Logistics Procurement Senior Manager accountable the development and implementation of bp Global fuel strategies across upstream and downstream, as well as managing strategic supplier performance globally through a collaborative supplier relationship framework.

Nazar holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Economics and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Marmara University in Istanbul as well as CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) certification.

In 2019, Nazar was awarded an Honorary Decree by SOCAR for his contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan.

Emin Gurbanbayov serves as the Vice-President of Security, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer of GL. Emin joined GL on December 27, 2021.

Emin has over 20 years of experience in the security sector and is a retired Colonel. During his service, Emin was awarded many medals including “For the Homeland” and other national awards of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He has extensive experience in risk analysis, drawing security policies, planning, and organizing the implementation of various procedures of security management. 

Emin holds bachelor’s degrees both in Oriental Studies and Law from Baku State University and a Master’s degree in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School of the United States. He has also completed a variety of programs and training in international security and countering terrorism.

Ilgar Ibrahimli serves as the Group Vice-President of External Affairs and Communications, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer of GL. Ilgar joined GL Group on June 1, 2023.

Ilgar Ibrahimli is a highly accomplished government affairs and strategic communications professional with more than 20 years of experience within government, international organizations, and business.

Before joining the GL Group, Ilgar worked as the Senior Executive Officer of the OSCE Program Office in Dushanbe, the biggest OSCE mission in Central Asia, for several years. Ilgar was in charge of providing strategic leadership and advice for the delivery of the Office's political mandate through the implementation of programs in the political-military, economic-environmental, and humanitarian dimensions of security. He was also the Marketing and Communications Director of Azerfon LLC, as well as Director of the Council of Europe Information Office in Azerbaijan.

Ilgar holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in New History of Europe and America from Baku State University.

He began his career at the National Television and Radio Council of Azerbaijan as the Head of the International Cooperation Department.

In May 2023, Ilgar was awarded a medal by the Commander of the Border Troops of Tajikistan for his efforts in reinforcement of the Border Troops.