Argentem Creek Partners have retained the lobbying services of law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

Argentem Creek Partners have retained the lobbying services of law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to advise them in their ongoing case against the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Akin Gump’s Washington, D.C. office is home to one of the most formidable lobbying teams in the U.S. Its public law and policy practice comprises more than 70 lawyers and other professionals, including former members of Congress.

The former members of Congress, political operatives and policy professionals of Akin Gump’s public law and policy team are adept at assisting their clients in building and maintaining relationships with current members of Congress who are in key leadership positions. The firm’s public law and policy practice is also consistently ranked as one of the top government relations practices in Washington, D.C. by Chambers USA and Legal 500.

For seven years, the Republic of Kazakhstan has refused to compensate the owners and international bondholders of Tristan Oil, a company whose related assets were illegally nationalized by the Government of Kazakhstan in July 2010 in violation of the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty.

In December 2013, an international arbitration tribunal constituted under Swedish arbitration rules awarded approximately US$ 500 million to the owners of Tristan Oil under the auspices of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which is designed to protect foreign investors in energy sectors of signatory countries including Kazakhstan. To date, no payments have been made to discharge the award and over US$ 540 million is now due (including legal cost awards and interest).

The dispute resolution process has now resulted in a final, binding and non-appealable award in favor of the owners, who have further assigned 70% of the proceeds under the award to their international bondholders of Tristan Oil.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice continues to refuse to pay the award and is adopting a multijurisdictional legal strategy and misinformation campaign designed to frustrate the award and avoid compliance.

In the summer of 2020, Kazakhstan filed a separate lawsuit in New York against Tristan Oil’s largest U.S. bondholder, Argentem Creek Partners as part of its ongoing avoidance effort.

Kazakhstan’s attempts to use litigation in the US to pressurise an American investment firm asserting its legitimate rights run counter to the country’s efforts to promote itself as a world-class destination for foreign investment.

The lobbying registration was effective as of 1 January 2021.