The names of the international lawyers who defended Kazakhstan's interests in foreign courts through ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’ during the time when the Ministry of Justice was headed by the infamous Marat Beketayev have become known.
In January 2024, the new head of the Ministry of Justice, Azamat Yeskerayev, stated that a pool of lawyers from local Kazakhstani firms and experts would be created to protect the country's interests abroad.
This decision was likely prompted by Kazakhstan's unfortunate experience in international courts, exemplified by the activities of former Minister of Justice Marat Beketayev and the associated company ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’.
One of the individuals that the company ‘Bolashak’ involved in Kazakhstan's arbitration proceedings was Matthew Harris Kirtland, the head of the British-American law firm ‘Norton Rose Fulbright’ (NRF), based in Washington, D.C.
He specialises in arbitration proceedings and, in his time, defended Kazakhstan's interests in court cases related to Anatol and Gabriel Stati, as well as in related court cases with Ascom Group SA and Terra Raf Trans Trading Ltd, Daniel Chapman and others.
The legal actions taken by Kazakhstan on the recommendation of the firm NRF and Matthew Kirtland, aimed at delaying and overturning the payment of compensation to the Stati-owned company ‘Tristan Oil’, are known to have resulted in huge financial losses for Kazakhstani taxpayers.
Another representative of Kazakhstan in the arbitration courts regarding the Stati case was Patricia Nacimiento, a partner at the international law firm ‘Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) in Frankfurt and the head of the dispute resolution legal group in Germany.
She led the legal battle against the payment of compensation to the company ‘Tristan Oil’, developing a strategy across several jurisdictions to also attempt to accuse the Statis of fraud and prevent the compensation from being paid.
In October 2023, Marat Beketayev was arrested on suspicion of abuse of power. It was reported that he annually entered into government contracts with an affiliated company, most likely that very ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’, for the provision of services that were knowingly unnecessary, thereby causing colossal damage to the state.
The scheme was as follows: international law firms and their partners, brought in for Kazakhstan's court proceedings abroad, were required to send invoices for their services to the company ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’. That company, in turn, received funding from the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan.
‘Bolashak Consulting Group’ is a private firm, and as a result, its finances are non-transparent. It is also unknown who actually controls ‘Bolashak’, and how much money the company charges for its services.
The media reported that the idea of channelling budget funds through ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’ belonged specifically to Marat Beketayev. The employees of the company ‘Bolashak’ turned out to be none other than former employees of the Kazakh Ministry of Justice.
It was also assumed that ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’ is managed by Gani Bitenov. He previously headed the department for the protection of the state's property rights, where he defended Kazakhstan's interests in international investment disputes with claim amounts in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to Intelligence Online, Gani Bitenov's activities through ‘Herbert Smith Freehills’ are linked to the practice of the aforementioned Patricia Nacimiento:
‘Bitenov is the person to whom "Bolashak" turns for foreign advisors to the Kazakh government. These consultants include lawyer Patricia Nacimiento, who also works in the Frankfurt office of "Herbert Smith Freehills", and previously worked at "Norton Rose Fulbright"’.
Furthermore, there is information that Kazakhstan's court proceedings with the Statis were coordinated by former Prime Minister Karim Massimov and businessman Kairat Boranbayev, who was previously convicted of embezzling 14.5 billion tenge during the resale of Russian gas to the state company ‘QazaqGaz’. The joint venture of ‘QazaqGaz’ with ‘Gazprom’ featured in the case concerning the expropriation of the Statis' assets.
All the cases that were handled by ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’ have led Kazakhstani taxpayers to countless losses. Kazakhstan has already spent over $300 million on legal costs in the Stati case. Furthermore, interest on the amount of compensation to be paid accrues annually at a rate of $25 million.
Over the years, the Ministry of Justice spent between 22% and 48% of its entire budget on the courts against the Statis. For example, in 2014, the total expenditure of the Ministry of Justice was $173 million, which was the maximum level of departmental spending over the last 10 years. Out of the $173 million, spending on arbitrations amounted to $38.9 million (22% of the total ministry expenditure). The most money spent on arbitration courts against the Statis was in 2021 - $60.3 million, or 48% of the total ministry expenditure ($125.2 million).
How much of the allocated funds went to Harris Kirtland, Patricia Nacimiento, and the firms ‘Norton Rose Fulbright’ and ‘Herbert Smith Freehills’ is unknown. But it is obvious that well-known foreign law firms did not hesitate to work through a shell company in order to enrich themselves at the expense of Kazakhstan's litigation.
For many years, Marat Beketayev tried to create the appearance of vigorous activity in resolving Kazakhstan's main international court case, but in reality, he was likely just stalling for time in order to appropriate and redistribute budget funds.
As of today, Beketayev remains under arrest. We hope he receives the punishment he deserves. But whether Kazakhstan intends to recover the millions of dollars spent on ‘Bolashak Consulting Group’, ‘Norton Rose Fulbright’ and ‘Herbert Smith Freehills’ and whether the renowned foreign lawyers will be held accountable for complicity in the theft of Kazakhstani taxpayers' money – remains a mystery.