The Government of Kazakhstan, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Stati parties, with the support and consent of Tristan Oil’s leading creditors, have concluded a framework agreement aimed at a peaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute over oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the agreement reached provides for the termination of all legal proceedings and the halting of current lawsuits in all jurisdictions. The terms of the agreement remain confidential.
“This agreement has been adopted with consideration for the public interest and does not involve expenditure of budget funds. We believe that this step will have a positive impact on attracting new investment to our country and economic growth,” said Kazakhstan’s Minister of Justice, Azamat Yeskarayev.
Recall that in 2010, Moldovan businessmen Anatol and Gabriel Stati accused the Kazakh authorities of an illegal takeover of their oil fields and filed a claim with an arbitration court.
Kazakhstan’s legal battles with the Statis were coordinated by the consulting group Bolashak Consulting Group and former Minister of Justice Marat Beketayev, who was later suspected of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale.
The legal defence strategy required Kazakh taxpayers to finance accounts amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually to defer payment of the compensation awarded by the court to the Stati businessmen.
Later, the Ministry of Justice terminated its cooperation with Bolashak Consulting Group. It was reported that the department intended to establish a group of trusted lawyers and experts from among domestic specialists to protect the country’s interests abroad.
Incidentally, it still remains genuinely unknown how much money Kazakhstan has spent on legal proceedings with the Moldovan businessmen.