Rovshan Najaf was born on the 9th of April 1982 in Baku. He entered the Faculty of International Economic Relations of Azerbaijan State Economic University in 1997 and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in 2001 and a Master’s Degree in 2003, both with honours. As part SOCAR’s scholarship programme, he successfully completed a Master’s Degree in Economic Policy Management / International Energy Management and Policy at Columbia University in the United States of America in 2007-2008.

He launched his career as a research assistant at the Department of International Economic Relations and Marketing of the Azerbaijan State Economic University in 2001. Between 2003 and 2007, he worked first as a consultant and then a senior consultant at the Investment Policy Division of the Investment and International Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan. From 2008 to 2009, he was the Head of the Investment Contracts Division at SOCAR’s Investment Department. He worked as the Head of the Foreign Economic Relations Department at the Ministry of Economic Development and Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development in 2009-2010. Between 2010 and 2018, he joined Azerbaijan Investment Company OJSC to work first as the Deputy Executive Director and then as the Executive Director.

Appointed Head of the Innovation Development and E-government Affairs Department at the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the 11th of May 2018; appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of the Financial Monitoring Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the 28th of August 2019; appointed Deputy Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the 11th of February 2020; appointed First Deputy Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the 24th of December 2021. On the 10th of February 2022, he became First Vice President and then Acting President of SOCAR. On the 21st of July 2022, he was appointed President of State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, SOCAR.

Rovshan Najaf holds a PhD in Economics and is the Third Rank State Councillor.