Timur Tillyaev and Lola Karimova were married for more than two decades. Photo: Getty Images / Christopher Polk
Former son-in-law of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, Timur Tillyaev remains one of the least public figures in major Uzbek business. Although his name has been linked for more than two decades to the country’s largest wholesale market, Abu Sahiy, international logistics operations and high-value real estate abroad, the businessman has rarely spoken to the media and has disclosed little information about his assets.
Interest in Tillyaev has increased again following reports of his divorce from Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, the younger daughter of Islam Karimov. Kursiv Uzbekistan has compiled everything known from public sources about the entrepreneur and his business activities.
From Shipping Containers to the Country’s Largest Market
According to the biography published on his personal website, Timur Tillyaev was born in Tashkent in 1980. He studied as an exchange student in the US state of Nebraska and later earned a degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Midland College.
Tillyaev’s best-known business venture was the Abu Sahiy market. According to the entrepreneur, he purchased a vacant plot on the outskirts of Tashkent in the early 2000s that contained 680 shipping containers and converted them into retail outlets.
Within ten years, the market had expanded to nearly 3,000 shops and pavilions covering more than 167,000 square metres. It attracted approximately 10,000 visitors daily and provided employment for around 5,000 people.
On his website, Tillyaev states that he sold Abu Sahiy in 2017.
The Business Face of the Karimov Family
For the wider public, Timur Tillyaev is best known as the former husband of Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva.
In 2015, the international investigative journalism organisation Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published its investigation Meet the Karimovs. In the report, Tillyaev was described as the family’s businessman, and it was alleged that Lola Karimova conducted business operations through him.
OCCRP journalists noted that Karimova-Tillyaeva cultivated a public image as a diplomat and philanthropist while serving as Uzbekistan’s representative to UNESCO and engaging in charitable activities.
However, no court rulings or official documents confirming that Karimova-Tillyaeva conducted business through her former husband were published.
Dubai Company and $127 Mln in Profit
The most detailed descriptions of the family’s overseas assets appeared in an investigation by The Black Sea, based on documents obtained by European journalists.
According to the report, a Dubai-registered company called Securtrade DMCC acted as a procurement operator for goods imported from China and Turkey for the Abu Sahiy market.
The company was registered in Dubai’s DMCC free economic zone. The investigation claimed that between 2013 and 2014 alone, the company generated profits of at least $127 mln.
Journalists also linked the Tillyaev family to logistics assets in Uzbekistan that supported imports for the country’s largest market.
Swiss Mansion and International Real Estate
OCCRP reported that Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva and Timur Tillyaev lived with their children in a mansion in Switzerland valued at approximately $46 mln.
Later, The Diplomat reported that the family spent different periods living between Geneva, Paris and Los Angeles.
Verifying the ownership structure of these properties is difficult. Unlike Switzerland’s corporate registry, land records in most Swiss cantons are not fully public.
In 2011, Swiss business magazine Bilan included Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva and Timur Tillyaev in its list of the country’s 300 wealthiest residents. The publication estimated the combined wealth of the two Karimov sisters at approximately $1 bn. In an interview with the BBC, Lola described those figures as «far from reality».
Bilan’s 2013 and 2014 rankings estimated the couple’s wealth at between $100 mln and $200 mln.
Father of Maryam
Timur Tillyaev and Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva have three children: Maryam, Umar and Safiya.
The most publicly recognised is their eldest daughter, Maryam Tillyaeva, who maintains an active social media presence, participates in reality television shows, appears in music videos and promotes her own clothing brand.
In interviews and on social media, Maryam has often spoken warmly about her father, shared family photographs and said that after a period of estrangement they managed to rebuild their relationship.
«I am 50% my mother and 50% my father,» Maryam once said while discussing the complex dynamics within the family.
A More Public Profile
After selling Abu Sahiy, Tillyaev gradually began stepping out of the shadows.
On his personal website, he presents himself as an international investor with interests spanning multiple sectors, from energy and healthcare to education and philanthropy.
The businessman also serves on the board of UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, supports educational programmes for students from Central Asia and finances cultural initiatives dedicated to Uzbekistan’s heritage.
What Is Known About Timur Tillyaev’s Assets
As of today, public sources link Tillyaev to the following assets and projects:
| Asset | Status |
|---|---|
| Abu Sahiy Market | Founded by Tillyaev, sold in 2017 (according to his own account) |
| Securtrade DMCC (UAE) | Mentioned in investigative journalism reports |
| Logistics Companies in Uzbekistan | Referenced by OCCRP and The Black Sea |
| Swiss Mansion | Valued by OCCRP at approximately $46 million |
| «You Are Not Alone» Charity Foundation | Founded jointly with Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva |
| Investments in Energy and Healthcare | Declared by the businessman himself |
Sources: OCCRP (Meet the Karimovs, 2015), The Black Sea (2017), Eurasianet, The Diplomat and Timur Tillyaev’s biography published on his personal website.
