Rauf Khalilov has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Franklin College Lugano, Switzerland. After gaining work experience at Finansbank, he helped set up his family’s shipping business, IRS, and worked at Glencore. In 2007, Rauf Khalilov joined the family business in Azerbaijan, where he started the automotive business. In 2010, he set up a logistics company, and today it is integrated into the structure of the SARDA group with a fleet of its own trucks and represents COSCO in Azerbaijan. In 2011, in a partnership with Fawaz Al Hokair, he established “Retail Group Azerbaijan,” which represents more than 35 brands such as Massimo Dutti, Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, and others, with over 600 employees. In 2024, together with the Al Hokair brothers, they launched CENOMI Uzbekistan with all of Inditex’s brands in Uzbekistan, employing 250 people at present.
In 2023, he and his partners started an F&B business with one of the world’s famous coffee brands, COSTA COFFEE, opening 8 stores in Azerbaijan and planning to open its first store in Georgia in 2025. Rauf Khalilov actively supports the development of sports in Azerbaijan. He is the president of the Azerbaijan Golf Federation and a board member of SABAH FC. Additionally, he is a co-chair of the Strategic Operations Committee of the Swiss-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce and Industry.