Rauf Atakishiyev

Rauf is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience in external assurance, finance, and operations. He joined KPMG from a prominent industrial holding company in Azerbaijan, where he served as Group CFO and was a member of the Supervisory Board for various joint ventures.

In his previous role as Group CFO, Rauf was deeply involved in projects with external consultants, focusing on joint venture establishment deals with investors. His work primarily centered on asset and business valuations, due diligence, and market research. His expertise also extended to optimizing business models and organizational structures, as well as developing corporate governance models.

Rauf was instrumental in facilitating the development of business unit strategies, implementing organizational structure changes, and overseeing joint venture establishment transactions. He led internal projects aimed at optimizing business processes, developing, and implementing ERP systems, enhancing budgeting and reporting practices, and strengthening control environments and asset safeguards.

In his capacity as COO and Deputy CEO of a large local distribution, production, and retail group, Rauf was responsible for defining performance management KPIs, restructuring business activities to enhance speed and efficiency, and implementing strategies to improve systems and policies to reduce costs.

In addition to his industry-specific experience, Rauf has successfully led audit engagements for oil & gas, insurance, energy, and industrial companies across Baku, Moscow, and London with Big-4 firms. His notable clients included AzerEnerjy OJSC, Bahar Energy (Upstream Oil and Gas), Nobel Oil Group, Norm Cement Plant, SilkWay Aviation Group (Cargo), and Azerbaijan Airlines (State Passenger Aviation Monopoly).