BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 24. Apollo Global Management, a major global alternative asset manager and private equity firm, is discussing financing of large-scale energy projects in Azerbaijan, said Jamshid Ehsani, Head of Global Principal Structured Finance at Apollo Global Management.
He made the remarks during the seventh annual Caspian Business Forum held by the Caspian Policy Center (CPC) in New York.
Ehsani focused on opportunities in critical minerals and energy infrastructure, as well as the financing structures needed to bring major projects to fruition.
“Central Asia’s vast critical mineral deposits are precisely what the Western supply chain needs for digital infrastructure, green electrification, and defense applications,” Ehsani said.
Ehsani also highlighted Apollo’s developing strategic partnership with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), noting that discussions are underway to finance large-scale energy projects in Azerbaijan and internationally. More broadly, he argued that the challenge is not necessarily a shortage of capital, but ensuring projects are structured in a way that can attract appropriate forms of long-term financing.
“The main barrier is not the availability of capital. It is the right type of capital [and] the right investment structure,” Ehsani said. “Apollo can play a major role mobilizing long-term insurance capital with the right structure for the region.”
Ehsani also emphasized the importance of reducing risks that can prevent capital from reaching projects. “You need to eliminate the binary aspect of risk. That is super important to make capital flow,” he said, pointing to transaction structuring and risk-mitigation mechanisms as tools that can improve the viability of investments.
In early June, during the Baku Energy Week 2026, SOCAR and Apollo established strategic cooperation on the TANAP project. Under the agreement, Apollo acquired a minority, non-controlling stake in the holding company that owns SOCAR Türkiye’s 7% stake in TANAP.
The parties also signed a memorandum of understanding on expanding cooperation in energy financing. The document provides for increasing existing TANAP financing to $300 million, as well as exploring financing opportunities for other SOCAR Group assets.
