The President of Tajikistan’s grandson has acquired an opulent residence in Dubai.
A disclosed record indicates that upscale properties in Dubai attract Tajikistan's political figures. President Emomali Rahmon's grandchild procured a three-bedroom dwelling on the city's shoreline, assessed at $1.3 million.
The offspring of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon secured a lavish flat in Dubai. According to the documents, the child was merely nine years of age upon acquiring the residence.
This probe is a component of the Dubai Unlocked initiative, relying on publicized data comprising specifics of hundreds of thousands of real estate owners in Dubai.
The divulged documents reveal the sum Erajon Gulov, currently 18, the Tajik president’s grandson, expended to obtain a 210-square-meter apartment on the well-known Palm Jumeirah island. Nonetheless, computations grounded on the apartment’s dimension and prevailing Dubai real estate values propose the domicile presently merits over $1.3 million. Dubai Land Department files show Erajon Gulov remains the owner, accruing $55,000 annually from rental revenues.
Dubai Unlocked is premised on multiple data leaks that afforded thorough insights into countless Dubai properties, encompassing details regarding proprietors and tenants. The preponderance of acquired information dates back to 2020 and 2022.
The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a Washington-based nonprofit researching transnational offenses and conflicts, procured the materials. This information was shared with E24, a Norwegian financial periodical, and OCCRP, which orchestrated the inquiry alongside numerous collaborators globally.
Information regarding the official proprietors of each property was acquired: their birthdate, passport details, and citizenship. In select instances, the records outlined tenant particulars instead of proprietor information.
Reporters utilized the accumulated data as a foundation for their research. They devoted several months confirming personal information in the released documents and the present status of each property via authorized and public sources, plus other leaks.
Whether the family’s income at the time could have financed the apartment remains ambiguous. At the point of acquisition, his mother, Parvina Rakhmonova, lacked a recognized revenue stream. Per the Tajik government’s website, her spouse, Ashrafjon Gulov, directed consular operations at the Tajik embassy in Moscow. Prior to this, he supervised the Tajikistan Tax Committee’s division for major taxpayers.
In Tajikistan, officials are not obligated to declare earnings and levies. However, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ published vacancy listings in 2022, the highest pay grade was for the department’s vice-head – approximately $200 each month.
“Ashraf Gulov's income as a diplomat would have been insufficient to purchase real estate in Dubai valued at $1.3 million,” expressed Edward Lemon, a Central Asia academic and professor at Texas A&M University.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan
Ashraf Gulov (left) exchanges greetings with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Even so, in 2015, Rakhmonova and Gulov distinguished themselves significantly from the typical Tajik family. Sherali Gulov, Ashrafjon’s father, is another person in the nation’s political establishment: fulfilling the role of Tajikistan’s Minister of Energy and Industry from 2006 until 2013. And Parvina’s father, Emomali Rahmon, had commanded the nation for upwards of twenty years at that stage. Advocates for human rights depict his administration as among the most tainted and biased within Central Asia.
A 2015 Freedom House evaluation conveyed that Rahmon’s immediate circle “receives favorable handling based on favoritism and tribalism.” The document specified “government roles, most notably those pertaining to taxation or commerce, are especially desired.”
Erajon Gulov alongside his parents neglected to react to requests for remarks.
Based on UAE legislation from 1985, minors aged 7 through 18 are eligible to possess property solely with a legal guardian’s consent.
The leaked papers unveil who functioned as Gulov’s guardian upon securing the apartment at Tanzanite Residence, however, the property conveyance paperwork documents the email address of Sukhrob Mirzoaliev, a former associate of the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He did not acknowledge a request for feedback.
According to Colin Powers, a senior fellow and editor-in-chief of the non-profit research organization Noria MENA Program, peddling properties to underage persons is one of several procedures Dubai employs to skirt regulations and entice capital.
Powers suggested that affluent individuals buying overseas assets using their children’s names serves as a means to conceal illicit earnings or curtail levies in their nation.
“This represents simply another mechanism the international elite deploys to obscure and invest in the real estate sector,” he elucidated. “My view is that it is not astute. Ascertaining whether someone is another’s descendant or child is not complicated. Nonetheless, it inflates the effort.”
All in the family
Numerous kin of the 72-year-old Tajik leader, who has nine offspring, have obtained high-status positions in government and finance. His daughter, Ozoda, directs the presidential administration, and Zarina is the vice-chair of the board for Orienbank, the nation’s premier commercial institution.
The president’s son, Rustam Emomali, serves as Dushanbe’s mayor and directs the National Council (the upper parliamentary house). This appointment positions him as the formal presidential hopeful.
Parvina Rakhmonova coupled with Ashrafjon Gulov command a lower profile when contrasted to their relatives. Speaking with the state-operated “Tajiks of Russia,” posted in 2014 on the independent Asia-Plus news portal, Gulov asserted his Moscow posting did not stem from family connections, nor does his designation minimize achievements within the Russian consulate, which is deemed “among the most challenging areas for the Tajik Foreign Ministry’s global political operations.”
“In the event I attained this position due to favoritism, why wasn’t I granted a more tranquil and lucrative designation?” he stated.
Gulov came to Moscow directly after Russia made immigration rules tighter for Tajik residents employed within the country. Such policy compelled scores of Tajik migrants to secure costly biometric passports, occasionally utilizing intermediaries who assured acceleration in exchange for supplementary fees. Engaging with “Tajiks of Russia,” issued in Asia-Plus, Gulov recognized the occurrence of “intermediaries,” affirming his staff does not engage, promising “measures” for those who do.
Following Moscow, Gulov served briefly within the Tajik Foreign Ministry, and from 2021 until 2024, as the ambassador to Turkey. By that juncture, his spouse went into commerce, establishing the pharmaceutical enterprise Sifat Pharma, operating a network of stores in Dushanbe colored pink and white. Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, it acquired several state-sponsored bids to supply ventilators and diverse medical supplies. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Sifat Pharma has been awarded governmental contracts estimated to be worth several million dollars since its establishment in 2017.
Acting as ambassador, Gulov conducted online workshops regarding Tajik-Turkish medical collaborations and arranged a visitation by Turkish entrepreneurs, culminating in a settlement between Sifat’s adjunct and Turkish equipment producer Dundarlar.
Gulov possesses several properties in Dushanbe. OCCRP alongside Azda TV uncovered a compilation of real estate under Gulov’s title, encompassing a building at the headquarters for the International Bank of Tajikistan.
In August 2024, Gulov assumed the role of Ambassador of Tajikistan to the UAE.
