XVIII International Atyrau Law Conference

On 13 September 2024, Atyrau hosted the annual International Law Conference organized by the Kazakhstan Petroleum Lawyers Association and Tengizchevroil LLP. The conference participants were the representatives of investors, Supreme Court of Kazakhstan, General Prosecution Office, Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and certainly legal practitioners, including AEQUITAS team, specifically, AEQUITAS Managing Partner Olga Chentsova and Associate Zhandaulet Sholanov who spoke about the "Investment Climate in Kazakhstan: Realities and Trends".

In his speech, Zhandaulet emphasized certain macroeconomic and political factors, which have impact on the investment climate in Kazakhstan. Specifically, he said that geographic location of Kazakhstan is one of the most important favorable components for attracting investments, because the country is situated at the junction of Europe and Asia, border between West and East. Furthermore, natural resources also contribute to the investment attraction, including foreign investments. However, there are certain problems encountered by investors: legislation requiring "further improvement", level of corruption, level of supremacy of law is not sufficiently high. Zhandaulet additionally highlighted the historical aspect of developing the Kazakhstan legislation on investments, according to which we can see the trend of reducing the preferences, benefits and other bonuses for foreign investors.

AEQUITAS is thankful to the organizers for such a good event with helpful networking and the opportunity to share experiences.