Managing Partner Vitaliy Vodolazkin Commented at Forbes.kz on the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Astana Courts

On 1 January 2016, Kazakhstan introduced special rules of jurisdiction over disputes arising between investors (predominantly ordinary business people) and government authorities in connection with the investors’ activity which, in most cases, is also ordinary business activity.

Such disputes might relate to tax, customs, antitrust and environmental issues, i.e. “typical” disputes between business and government.

For some unknown reason, the Kazakhstan Parliament decided that such disputes would be better settled by the courts located in Astana, in particular, the Astana City Court and Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

SZP Managing Partner Vitaliy Vodolazkin reasons upon the outcome of such decision in his article “All Courts are Equal, but the Astana Court is More Equal” published atForbes.kz at link https://forbes.kz/blogs/blogsid_148302.