National Fund of Kazakhstan Prepares to Regain Control of Its Arrested Assets

Court of appeal in Belgium canceled the arbitral award in the amount of $530 million, according to the Ministry of Justice’s press service.

In December 2007, Stati, father and son Moldovan moguls who have tried to sue Kazakhstan, received official recognition of an arbitral award in their favor.

In December 2019, that decision was confirmed by the Belgium court. However, it turned out that both decisions were made based on very limited information and no claims about Stati’s fraud provided by the Kazakhstani side were taken into account.

In November 2020, the appeal court of Brussel accepted the claim by Kazakhstan about new information concerning the case and possible fraud by Stati despite protests from the side of the Moldavian businessmen. This time the court of appeals confirmed that Kazakhstan was right when it had alleged big fraud by the complainants and has canceled the previous decision of the arbitrary court.

As a result, the $530 million worth of assets that Kazakhstan’s National Fund has kept in the Bank of New York Mellon will be free from arrest.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the court of appeals in Belgium has changed its position because it realized the wrongdoing by Stati. For example, consultants from KPMG were given fake financial reports on Stati’s businesses in Kazakhstan – Tristan Oil, Kazpolmunay and Tolkynneftegaz. These reports were a vital part of Stati’s strategy to gain the support of the court even though in August 2019, KPMG called off these reports as inaccurate. The Brussels court has also concluded that the arbitral award assigned to them was based on false financial data and has to be canceled.

The main arbitral award in favor of Stati was made in Stockholm in December 2013. Back then the court ruled that Kazakhstan had broken the international law and should pay Stati $530 million.

To make sure that every facet of the case is open for the public, Kazakhstan launched a special website where all documents concerning the case, Stati’s complaints and decisions by the international arbitrary court against the country are made available.