Our management

Gary Jones

Regional president Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye

Gary is a proven business leader with 40 years of experience. He joined bp in 1981 and ‎has held many leadership positions in drilling, operations and projects. This included heading bp’s operations in Iraq as general manager Rumaila/vice president operations, serving as a key leader in Russia as the project director/performance unit leader – Verkhnechonskoye, and holding multiple leadership positions across bp’s North Sea asset base. He has a significant operations and technology delivery experience and a track record of building strong partnerships with national oil companies.

Gary holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham.

Elkhan Mammadov

Vice president production Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Elkhan has been with bp for over 20 years and has held several leadership roles in the global operations organization.

He has a wealth of experience working on both onshore sites and offshore installations in the Caspian and the North Sea.
In 2014, Elkhan was awarded the ’Progress’ medal by the President of Azerbaijan for his significant contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry in the country.
Elkhan holds a master’s degree in automation engineering.

Leyla Mammadova

Vice president people & culture, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Leyla joined bp in 2001 and throughout her career has held a broad range of PC&C roles in several countries in the company.

She has over 20 years of international human resources management experience. In her most recent role, Leyla served as people and culture vice-president for the production and operations bp Solutions organization and leadership team.

Leyla holds a postgraduate diploma in human resource management. 

She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli

Vice President for the Caspian region, Communications and External Affairs

Bakhtiyar has been with bp for about 20 years and has held a number of leadership roles ‎across communications and external affairs, tax and customs, ethics ‎and compliance as well as business services. 
In 2017, Bakhtiyar was awarded the ’Progress’ medal by the President of Azerbaijan for his significant contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry in the country.
Bakhtiyar holds bachelor's and masters degrees in international relations from the Baku State University.

Dan Sparkes

Vice president subsurface, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Dan has 25 years of industry experience, most of it in subsurface, focusing on unlocking difficult-to-extract resources. His experience includes assignments in production operations, wells, and subsurface, including offshore and other field sites in countries such as Canada, Brazil, the US, the UK, Norway, Indonesia, Australia, and India. His most recent role was vice president subsurface for the Asia-Pacific and India regions.

Dan holds a degree in petroleum engineering and is a professional engineer licensed in Alberta, Canada.

Zaur Pashayev

Vice president safety & operational risk assurance, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region and Asia-Pacific

Zaur has been with bp for more than 24 years and has a deep leadership and operational experience both onshore and offshore.
In 2001, Zaur was awarded the ’Progress’ medal by the President of Azerbaijan for his significant contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry in the country.
Zaur holds a degree in mechanical engineering and is a graduate of bp Operations Academy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, US.

Colin Allan 

Vice president finance, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Colin has been with bp since 1999 and has worked in a wide variety of commercial and business development roles across bp’s businesses in the North Sea, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Angola, and Trinidad.

Colin has a deep functional expertise in finance having benefitted from exposure to a wide range of finance activities across multiple geographies.Colin has a long history with Azerbaijan and is proud to have worked on the Shah Deniz Phase 1 negotiations leading up to the final investment decision in 2003. Colin holds a degree in modern history from the University of Oxford.

Katerina Papalexandri

Vice president gas and low carbon energy (LCE) growth, Caspian gas growth

Katerina has been with bp for 23 years and has held several technical and commercial roles in the company. She has worked on various gas commercial issues including gas sales and transportation negotiations, and strategy development since the early 2000’s.
Katerina is a PhD in chemical engineering.

Matt Kirkham

Vice president projects, AGT, Middle East and North Africa

Matt has been with bp for 13 years. He has over 26 years of experience in the energy industry. 

His experience includes assignments in Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and the US. In his most recent role, Matt was vice president projects for the Asia-Pacific region.

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Elyar Aliyev

Vice president legal, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Elyar joined bp in 2009 and has led the legal support to a number of bp’s significant assets in the region, including the Shah Deniz and Southern Gas Corridor projects. In his role, Elyar is responsible for the provision of business-focused legal support to the AGT region. In 2022, Elyar was presented an honorary award of the president of SOCAR for his special contribution to the development of oil and gas industry in the country.

Elyar holds a master’s degree (with distinction) from Baku State University’s department of international law and international relations, and has a graduate diploma in law from BPP University Law School in the UK.

Russell Morrice

Vice president wells, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye region

Russell has been with bp for almost 25 years. He has held a variety of drilling and completions roles globally both onshore and offshore. His most recent role was vice president wells, wells discipline.

Russell has an extensive experience in managing wells activities across a wide range of countries and also recently led the building of wells capability across the wells function.

Russell holds a 1st class honours degree in mechanical and offshore engineering and an MBA (with distinction).

Ayten Agalarova

Vice president Georgia

Ayten has been with bp since 2006 and has held a variety of finance, commercial, supply chain and leadership roles supporting the global operations, wells and projects organizations. 
In her new role, Ayten is responsible for supporting the implementation of bp’s strategy in Georgia and maintaining government relations and external affairs on behalf of bp businesses in the country.
Ayten holds degrees in petroleum engineering and petroleum law and MBA from Warwick Business School.

Tumkan Isiltan

Vice president Türkiye

Tumkan has been with bp for more than 21 years and has held a number of roles in finance, commercial and performance teams in Türkiye and overseas. In his new role, Tumkan is responsible for managing bp’s reputation and relationships with the government and key stakeholders as well as maintaining safe, reliable and compliant operations on all bp assets in Türkiye.
Tumkan holds degrees in civil engineering and business administration.