As Central Asia’s Stans Break Free, Moscow’s Empire Dissolves: If The West Helps Here’s How The World Benefits

Journalist and author, Melik Kaylan, writes:

“There are, nevertheless, all manner of pitfalls. Examples like the ‘Tristangate’ case in Kazakhstan don’t help foreign investor confidence. Back in 2010, under then Prime Minister Massimov, Nazarbayev’s henchman and Secret Services chief now in jail, the Kazakhs nationalized and effectively expropriated an oil and gas company owned by foreign investors (Tristan Oil). Lawsuits have dragged on in numerous countries. In 2013, the Swedish courts gave an award of some $500 million against the Kazakhs (that remains unpaid) and just on August 29th a top New York court upheld the Swedish judgment. This on the heels of Italy’s highest court doing the same earlier this year. In almost every other way, Kazakh President Tokayev has acted with commendable backbone and judgement under pressure, showing a determination to clean house internally while standing up to Moscow’s bullying. Yet this messy alienating legacy from the previous regime drags on, a symbol of tenacious holdovers from the Massimov/Nazarbayev bloc, and alarms potential outside investors in Tokayev’s country and the region as a whole.”