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An archive of the key court rulings in the Tristangate dispute.
Amsterdam District Court denies National Bank of Kazakhstan claim for damages
The Amsterdam District Court denied a $118 million damages claim brought by the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) against the Stati Parties.
NBK claimed it had suffered severe losses after rulings in a Dutch court and a Belgian court in 2017 led to the attachment of sovereign assets held by BNY Mellon worth $22.6 billion.
The court dismissed the claim in its entirety, arguing that “in this case there is no question of an unlawful attachment leading to risk liability,” and that “it cannot be held that the Stati parties abused their powers”. It also ordered NBK to cover the Statis’ legal costs.
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The Amsterdam District Court grants a US$ 5.2 billion asset attachment of Kazakhstan’s stake in the Kashagan oil field, held via the sovereign wealth fund JSC Samruk-Kazyna’s (Samruk-Kazyna) 50% shareholding in the Dutch entity KMG Kashagan B.V., as an enforcement measure under the award.
The Kashagan oil field is one of the largest offshore oilfields in the Caspian Sea. The international consortium that has developed the field includes Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, ExxonMobil, China National Petroleum Corporation, and Inpex.
The Stockholm District Court allows the Stati Parties to attach any Kazakh state assets on Swedish soil as an enforcement measure under the Award.
The bailiff in Luxemburg places a freeze on Kazakhstan’s 40% stake in Eurasian Resources Group, formerly publicly listed company ENRC, which was taken private in 2013 valued at £3.1 billion. In addition, dividends owed to Kazakhstan by ERG in the sum of US$ 48 million are frozen as a result of this attachment.
The Svea Court of Appeal in Sweden upholds the award in full by dismissing all of the challenges (including based on the fraud allegations) brought by Kazakhstan against the award and refuses the right to appeal its judgment to the Swedish Supreme Court.
The Tribunal holds that Kazakhstan has violated its obligations under the ECT and awards the Stati Parties damages of approximately US$ 500 million, plus costs and interest.
In its 414-page reasoned award the Tribunal holds that:
“[Kazakhstan’s] measures, seen cumulatively in context to each other and compared with the treatment of the Claimants’ investments before the Order of the President of the Republic [Nursultan Nazabayev] on 14/16 October 2008, constituted a string of measures of coordinated harassment by various institutions of [Kazakhstan]. These measures must be considered as a breach of the obligation to treat investors fairly and equitably, as required by Art 10(1) ECT”.
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