Kazakh oil and gas legislation and the energy charter treaty
1. INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the ten largest states in the world and is richly endowed with energy and mineral resources. Some 1200 different types of mineral raw materials have been found here. In terms of uranium, manganese, tungsten, gold, phosphorites and iron resources, Kazakhstan is ranked among the top ten countries worldwide, and occupies first place in uranium and lead, second place in zinc and chromium ores, fourth place in copper, and seventh in gold. The most prominent role in the Republic's resource base, however, is played by energy resources, primarily oil and gas. Hitherto, energy has been one of the few basic commodity sectors in which Kazakhstan retains an effective trading capability, and the interest of foreign investors in Kazakhstan is focused largely on lucrative investment opportunities in oil and gas field development.
Investment opportunities in Kazakhstan as a whole are rated fairly high. According to the Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States (BISNTS) attached to the US Department of Commerce, opportunities for investment in Kazakhstan are perceived by foreign investors as more attractive compared with other CIS countries. The sum total of foreign investment in the years since independence has topped USD10 billion. In the year 2000, the level of direct investment was in excess of USD 1.5 billion, and general estimates for 2001 put this figure in the region of USD 1.8 billion. In 2002, the level of direct investment is set to increase further by some 5.5 per cent, reaching USD 1.9 billion. The bulk of this investment has been directed at the oil and gas sector, which accounted for 84.7 per cent of the total investment in 2001. Today, practically all of the world's oil majors have a presence in the Kazakh oil and gas sector. Not least among these is the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which has acquired a 60 per cent stake in the major oil producer Aktobemunaigaz.
Commercial scale reserves of oil and condensate have been established in six of Kazakhstan's provinces, with a highly uneven distribution across the country. At present around 80 oil fields are under development, in which 80 per cent of the Republic's total recoverable reserves are concentrated. A large proportion of oil production is centred on major fields like Tengiz, Karachaganak, Zhetybai, Uzen, Kalamkas, Zhanazhol, Kashagan and Kumkol. As in the case of oil, free gas reserves in commercial categories are unevenly spread across the country. Sixty - two of the seventy-five prospected fields are concentrated in four provinces in the west of the country, and these hold 98 per cent of the commercial reserves. Major offshore oil and gas prospects are associated with the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. In 2000, a total of 35.3 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate were produced in Kazakhstan, including 30.6 million tonnes of oil and 4.6 million tonnes of gas condensate. Gas production was 8.9 billion cubic metres. In 2001, 23.7 million tonnes of oil were exported. In 2002, the plan was to boost oil and gas condensate production to 39.6 million tonnes.
In the medium term, on the strength of direct investment, the Republic of Kazakhstan will be seeking to consolidate the following essential principles of state investment policy:
– stability and predictability;
– establishment of a clear, transparent and unambiguous legal framework for investment activity;
– protection of the legal rights of investors;
– creation of a level playing field for foreign and Kazakh investors;
– compliance with contract conditions and international agreements;
– profitability and viability of direct investment;
– stimulation of direct investment in priority sectors of the economy;
– transparency of information in the internal commodities market and equality of opportunity for participation in this market by different groups of investors;
– safeguarding of the environment.
The energy sector is of vital strategic significance to the nation's economy, and for this 'reason it is essential to further improve the legislation governing the rights of investors.
2.KAZAKHSTAN'S INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT COMMITMENTS
Kazakhstan has an elaborate system of legislation regulating the energy sector. Besides general laws governing entrepreneurial activity (such as the Civil Code, Tax Code, land laws, company law, etc.), there is also a body of special investment legislation. Examples include the laws on foreign investment (now the Law on Investments which covers both foreign and domestic investment), state support for direct investment, the power industry, subsurface and subsurface use, petroleum, competition and restriction of monopolistic activity, natural monopolies, foreign exchange regulation, etc. Increasingly, however, these domestic legal arrangements are being impacted by the country's international commitments.
Kazakhstan has, for example, signed up to bilateral treaties for the support and mutual protection of investment with 31 countries, together with 32 treaties on the abolition of dual taxation. The country is also a member of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the International Development Association, the International Agency for Investment Guarantees, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Eurasian Economic Community. Kazakhstan is additionally signatory to a number of multilateral conventions, including the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958), the Washington Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States (1965), the Seoul Convention on establishment of a Multilateral Agency for Investments Guarantees (1985), among others.
Notwithstanding these international commitments, foreign investors tend to be wary of our national legislation, given its propensity for constant change not always for the better from an investor's perspective. Against this backdrop, the international treaties which Kazakhstan has recently been actively negotiating or which it has already signed up to, take on even greater significance.
3. KAZAKHSTAN AND THE ЕСТ.
In this context, the Treaty to the European Energy Charter (ЕСТ) signed by Kazakhstan on 17 December 1994 in Lisbon and ratified on 18 October 1995 is of enormous value to Kazakhstan and has assisted greatly in the country's aspiration to full-fledged membership of the global economic community. A plus point of this Treaty from the Kazakh perspective is the fact that Kazakhstan is one of the few signatory states with an energy surplus and will therefore be a host country for investors. At the same time, the ЕСТ is designed primarily to provide safeguards for investors channelling capital into energy projects. Accordingly, by putting its name to the ЕСТ, Kazakhstan is going some way towards restricting its own rights in the sphere of energy sector regulation. For instance, it has undertaken to promulgate legislation in accordance with the ЕСТ, and has waived judicial immunity. Despite these restrictions, it must also be recognized that Kazakhstan receives numerous benefits from the ЕСТ, some of which considered below.
3.1. The Transit Issue (Article 8)
For land - locked Kazakhstan, resolution of the transit issue is one of the most important pre-requisites for the development of foreign investment in the oil business. This means ensuring a stable environment for oil exports. It also means ensuring proper regulation of relations with other countries, primarily the Russian Federation. Thus, both energy risks and political risks need to be addressed.
Consider Kazakhstan's power industry, which was established as an integral part of the Unified Power System of the former USSR. The existing resource base and engineering infrastructure of this sector in Kazakhstan, Russia, the Central Asian states and other CIS countries also evolved as unified whole. The break-up of the Union divided this unified system along state boundaries, which caused many problems. Integration of the currently disparate elements of the Unified Power System along new economic lines is directly linked to the transmission and transit of large quantities of energy across the territory of neighbouring or third countries, which involves energy risks.
Turning to the question of political risk, this is one of the greatest obstacles to foreign investment. Unfortunately, the level of political risk is extremely high throughout the CIS, including Kazakhstan. In countries with a transition economy beset by inflation, falling industrial output, declining standard of living, etc., the level of political risk is very much greater than in countries developing in a stable manner.
The transit issue, together with a number of other factors, encompasses the problem of political risk. Strained relations between Kazakhstan and Russia in the wake of political events could have repercussions on oil exports across Russian territory. Russia could simply decide to close the pipeline. Therefore, the presence of an international treaty and the ability to use the dispute resolution mechanisms embodied therein to settle transit-related issues may help reduce the level of political risk in this area. It will be recalled that in 2001 the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline came on stream, carrying crude oil from Tengiz in Kazakhstan to Novorossiisk in Russia for onward tanker transportation via the Black Sea. Clearly, international treaties on transit are of increasing value to Kazakhstan.
Over the last three years, the Energy Charter's Transit Working Group has been extremely busy with the drafting of transit documents. These include, first and foremost, the legally binding ЕСТ Transit Protocol and draft recommendations on standard transit treaties (between Governments, between Governments and companies, and between crude oil and natural gas carriers). These documents are nearing completion and, when signed into effect, will provide a clear - cut legal framework for hydrocarbon transit activities.
3.2. Sovereignty
Article 18 of the ЕСТ, which deals with sovereignty over energy resources, is regarded as being of great significance for Kazakhstan. Retention of sovereignty over energy resources is vitally important for a country with such substantial natural wealth. Consequently, during the ЕСТ negotiations, Kazakhstan was of one voice with Norway on proposals to substantially amend the wording of Article 18.
3.3. Investment
The same issue arises in connection with ЕСТ Article 10, which deals with stimulation and protection of investment and the investment regime. With respect to the post – investment phase, ЕСТ partners undertake to extend national treatment and most favoured treatment to investments and related activity (ЕСТ Article 10(7)).
With regard to the pre-investment phase, Article 10(2) states that each contracting party must endeavour to afford investors of other parties national treatment or most favoured treatment, i.e. the contracting party may opt not to grant such treatment or make certain exceptions prior to the signature of the Supplementary Treaty as provided in Article 10(4).
The Supplementary Treaty will be accompanied by an Annex listing exclusions from the national regime in relation to foreign investors, where national interests so require; this Annex will serve as a kind of navigation aid for investors. Work on the Supplementary Treaty continued on a fairly intensive basis for three years and by June 1998 was almost ready for signature. Kazakhstan was willing to sign the Supplementary Agreement because, firstly, the provisions it contained were wholly consonant with the Kazakh policy of creating a favourable investment climate; secondly, the very procedure involved in drawing up the Supplementary Treaty demonstrates the flexibility both of the Energy Charter Treaty as an international instrument, and of the provisions contained in it. After lengthy deliberation, countries with a transition economy of which Kazakhstan is one succeeded in securing the inclusion of provisions which go a long way towards allaying concerns likely to be raised by any country acceding to the Treaty.
The Supplementary Treaty sets forth the obligations of states to extend national treatment to investors when making investments. However, a number of important exceptions are made. In particular, each party has the right to present a list of exclusions from the national regime, forming an Annex to the Supplementary Treaty, and which remain in effect until such time as they are rescinded by the state itself. These exclusions are compiled into a so-called Blue Book for each country. In Kazakhstan's case, the Blue Book contains only three exclusions, one of which is a serious one relating to land use, and the other two relate to requirements to use local equipment and local labour when conducting subsurface operations. Kazakhstan has now decided to remove the exclusions relating to the land use from the national treatment because, with the adoption of the Law on Land in 2001, the restrictions relating to land use have lost their exclusive orientation towards foreign investors. Thus, there are almost no exclusions from national treatment in the Kazakh legislation. Nevertheless, we regard the essential ability to stipulate exclusions prior to signing the Supplementary Treaty as very important.
Another area in which it is possible to specify exclusions from national treatment relates to privatisation. The Supplementary Treaty includes a special Addendum in this regard. When privatising state property, the countries included in this Addendum have the right to stipulate exclusions for foreign investors, while extending certain benefits to their own investors. This Addendum was the result of pressure brought to bear in the discussions by countries with a transition economy. Kazakhstan took an active part in these efforts and was included in the list, retaining for itself the opportunity to specify exclusions in all areas of energy sector privatisation. This does not mean that we will use this facility. Kazakh legislation does not contain exclusions from national treatment in privatisation in any branch of the economy, and for the time being we do not intend to stipulate any such exclusions.
However, the privatisation sphere is very important for Kazakhstan, as it is for all countries with a transition economy. This relates to state property and is in large measure tied to state sovereignty. Kazakhstan has fundamental objections to signing an international treaty limiting the right of the state to determine the conditions of privatisation. Clearly, without such an Addendum, Kazakhstan will never sign the Supplementary Treaty.
At the same time, the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty on national treatment for foreign investors are perfectly acceptable to Kazakhstan. This is enshrined in the Kazakh Law on Foreign Investment, in which Article 4 is almost a word – for – word repetition of ЕСТ Article 10(3).
The former Law on Foreign Investment in the Kazakh SSR dated 7 December 1990 prohibited investment in manufacturing for direct military purposes (Article 9). This prohibition was lifted in the 1994 Foreign Investment Law and replaced by a general wording to the effect that foreign investment may be made in any development or class of activity in which this form of investment is not prohibited by legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Article 2). At the same time, Article 4 affords the ability to stipulate exceptions from national treatment. Thus, the situation in Kazakh legislation corresponds to that embodied in the ЕСТ.
No direct restrictions are imposed at the рrе – investment stage, though the ability to specify such restrictions by legislation is available. Once the Supplementary Treaty is ratified, the possibility of stipulating restrictions for the energy sector should be excluded. As to the post-investment stage, no restrictions are currently allowed under the basic ЕСТ. Therefore, with respect to the energy sector, the restrictions afforded by Kazakh legislation ought not to be applied.
An added consideration is the fact that the Law on Foreign Investment applies to all investment, not only to investment in the energy sector. Therefore, restrictions can be imposed on investment in other branches of the economy. However, this cannot be the case in laws relating to investment in the energy sector. It has to be said that no such restrictions are contemplated in legislation passed in relation to petroleum, the power industry, subsurface, and other spheres of activity.
3.4. Trade
Kazakhstan also attaches great significance to the provisions contained in Part 2 of the ЕСТ devoted to trade and trade - related investment programmes. Although not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Kazakhstan nonetheless enjoys rights and carries obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the energy sector, which will considerably facilitate Kazakhstan's entry into the WTO in the
Article 29 of the ЕСТ on customs tariffs is of fundamental importance for Kazakhstan. The original draft of this article contained an obligation not to increase customs tariffs from the date of signature of the Treaty. At Russia's representation, supported by the majority of CIS countries, the wording of Article 29 was amended giving ЕСТ member states the opportunity to increase tariffs subject to notification of the Charter Secretariat of their intention to do so. This rule will apply henceforth pending corrections to the ЕСТ.
The trade – related provisions of the ЕСТ are based on GATT-47. However, since the ЕСТ was signed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and GATT have taken decisions that will phase out GATT-47 and replace it within two years by the provisions of the Uruguay Round (GATT-94). It will, therefore, be all the more difficult to make the ЕСТ trading provisions reflect the rules which prevail in the greater part of world trade and it will be more difficult and costly to maintain a system with two different sets of trade regulations.
To assist those Contracting Parties who are not yet members of GATT, and to facilitate their eventual accession thereto, it will be necessary to introduce interim arrangements that do not hinder their preparations for membership. An intermediate step, anticipating but not replacing comprehensive amendment of the Treaty, would be to incorporate urgently the results of the Uruguay Round (GAT-94) as amendments to the Treaty by means of a Conference resolution under ЕСТ Article 30. These amendments would clearly then require ratification.
The trade amendment to the ЕСТ was endorsed by the Charter Conference on 24 April 1999. It was drafted pursuant to Article 29(6) and in light of the Uruguay Round in respect of the Rules for Setting Tariff Rates. It commits the Contracting Party not to increase tariffs or charges levied on energy materials and products at the time of importation or exportation beyond the level prescribed for that party. It is anticipated that this tariff will steadily decrease and, as soon as circumstances allow, will be abolished.
The Trade Amendment has yet to come into effect. This is very important for Kazakhstan, which, like other countries with a transition economy, does not yet have a settled legal and economic system and trading relations with other countries, and it is simply not in a position at present to make a commitment not to increase tariff rates. In the time it takes for the Trade Amendment to come into force, Kazakhstan will have an opportunity to prepare for the new customs system and somehow stabilise its energy policy.
4. THE ЕСТ AND KAZAKHSTAN: AN APPRAISAL
The Energy Charter Treaty is both an international treaty and a legal document. As such, it has enormously influenced the development of Kazakh legislation.
Firstly, under the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (adopted on 30 August 1995), international treaties ratified by Kazakhstan take priority over its laws and are directly applicable, except in cases where its application requires the promulgation of a law. Following its ratification (18 October 1995) and entry into force (16 April 1998) the Energy Charter Treaty became a directly enforceable act with precedence over Kazakh laws. Therefore, when passing new laws in the energy sector, the legislature is obliged to ensure that the provisions of the new legislation do not conflict with the ЕСТ. At the same time, the ЕСТ is a rather flexible document and leaves much to the discretion of national statute.
Secondly, many treaty provisions were brought into national legislation during the preparatory stages of the ЕСТ. Kazakhstan's early involvement in drafting the ЕСТ provisions undoubtedly had a significant influence on the development of investment legislation in this country. This is why many provisions of Kazakh legislation coincide almost word for word with the ЕСТ provisions. For example:
– Establishment of national or most favoured treatment for foreign investments, whichever conditions are more favourable (ЕСТ Art. 10(2); Art. 4(1) of the Foreign Investment Law);
– Compensation of losses in case of force majeure: application of national or most favoured treatment (ЕСТ Art. 12(1); Art. 9 of the Foreign Investment Law);
– Guarantees on expropriation. In this case, it is interesting to compare the texts in more detail:
ЕСТ Article 13(1) reads:
Investments of Investors of a Contracting Party in the Area of any other Contracting Party shall not be nationalised, expropriated or subjected to a measure or measures having effect equivalent to nationalisation or expropriation (hereinafter referred to as «Expropriation») except where such Expropriation is:
(a) for a purpose which is in the public interest;
not discriminatory;
carried out under due process of law; and
accompanied by the payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation.
Article 7(1) of the Foreign Investment Law reads:'
Foreign investments may not be nationalised, expropriated or subjected to other measures having effect equivalent to nationalisation or expropriation (hereinafter expropriation) except where such expropriation is carried out in the public interest under due process of law, and is carried out without discrimination with the payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation.
It is not difficult to see that Article 7(1) of the Foreign Investment Law repeats Article 13(1) of the ЕСТ more or less verbatim. Because the author of this paper was also responsible for drafting the Foreign Investment Law, he is able to assert that this was done quite consciously with the aim of harmonising the national legislation as closely as possible with the ЕСТ.
– Transfer of payments related to investments (Art. 11 (2) of the Foreign Investment Law is a more or less verbatim repetition of ЕСТ Art. 14(1)
– Dispute resolution between the investor and state through the courts or administrative tribunals at the investor's choosing (ЕСТ Art. 26, Art. 27 of the Foreign Investment Law).
These are but a few examples of the similarities between the ЕСТ and the Foreign Investment Law, and many more could be cited. They merely serve to demonstrate the considerable influence that the ЕСТ has had on the national legislation of Kazakhstan.
That said, however, the Energy Charter Treaty contains provisions which pose certain problems for Kazakhstan, and objections were raised by Kazakhstan against their inclusion during the discussion and negotiation stages. In some instances, these grey areas place the ЕСТ and national legislation in direct conflict. ЕСТ provisions are not always taken into account when new legislation is passed in Kazakhstan, either through ignorance of the fine detail of the ЕСТ on the part of the people drafting the laws, or as a result of changes in state policy, which puts the new laws at odds with the ЕСТ. But this is a living and creative process. Relations between the state and the Energy Charter are in a state of continual development and interdependence. Any problems that arise can be resolved on the basis of the legal and organizational mechanisms embodied in the ЕСТ.
The following are some of the problems typically encountered.
4.1. Transparency
According to Article 20 of the ЕСТ, laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application relating to trade in energy materials and products must be published promptly and in such a manner as to enable contracting parties and investors to become acquainted with them. In so doing, one or more enquiry points are to be designated for the referral of requests for information about these laws and regulations.
Kazakhstan has no problems with the publication of laws and regulations. To be more precise, some problems do exist with the availability of resources and information, but they are by no means insurmountable. Judicial decisions and administrative rulings, however, are another matter. Under the former Soviet legal system, these acts were not a source of law. Hitherto, the only judicial rulings to have been published are those of the Kazakh Supreme Court. Administrative rulings have never been published. For this reason, publication of the decisions of all courts, including all district courts, poses very serious difficulties. It is even more difficult to set up a special centre where all these documents could be stored. Therefore, Kazakhstan has opted for an extended timescale for the implementation of this system and fulfilment of the provisions of ЕСТ Article 20.
Nevertheless, the principle of transparency is embodied in the latest laws and regulations. For example, Article 12 of the Foreign Investment Law states that all regulatory acts, and also court rulings relating to foreign investment, must be accessible to interested persons. Foreign investors are afforded free access to information on the registration of legal entities, company charters, registration of real estate transactions, and issue of licences, excluding information that constitutes commercial secrets. A Similar extension of transparency beyond regulatory acts and court rulings is also contained in the legislation on energy resources. For example, the petroleum, subsurface and subsurface use laws contain provisions requiring the licensing authority to allow all interested persons to peruse basic documents relating to the conduct of petroleum operations and other activities.
4.2. Applicable Law (ЕСТ Art. 26(6))
This article stipulates that an arbitration tribunal shall decide issues in dispute in accordance with the Treaty and the applicable rules and principles of international law. For Kazakhstan, it is not entirely clear what is meant here by “the applicable rules and principles of international law”. We take the view that, because the investment is being made in Kazakhstan, the relations arising there from should ordinarily by governed by Kazakh law. In certain cases, for example relations arising in connection with the formation of joint ventures, the law directly makes provision for the use of Kazakh Law. At the same time, it is permissible for the law of another state to be applied to investment contracts, if the parties so agree. This rule has been retained in relation to subsurface operations. However, in 1999 there was an abrupt change of tack in the case of petroleum operations.
Previously, the Petroleum Law stated that:
Applicable law means the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where directly provided by legislative acts or where the applicable law is not defined in the conditions of contract. In other cases, the applicable law shall be Kazakh law or the law of another country depending on the conditions of contract.
However, major amendments were introduced into the Petroleum Law by the Law of 11 August 1999, including a change to the concept of applicable law. A new Article 53 - 1 was included as follows:
The exclusive law of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall apply to relations arising in connection with petroleum operations conducted in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and also petroleum operations offshore.
Conditions permitting the application of foreign law may not be included in Contracts made with the competent authority (authorised state body).
Relations arising in connection with the conduct of petroleum operations offshore involving Exploration and Production or combined Exploration and Production conducted in fields bordering frontiers may be governed by the law of the state neighbouring or adjoining the Republic of Kazakhstan, where this is directly stipulated in an international treaty to which the Republic of Kazakhstan is signatory
Thus, contrary to the provisions of ЕСТ Article 26(6), only Kazakh law may be the applicable law in contracts for the conduct of petroleum operations. While it may not be the most felicitous provision in Kazakh legislation, it is the overt expression of Kazakh Government policy.
4.3. Recognition of Tax as Expropriation or Discriminatory
The problem of declaring a tax to be expropriation or discriminatory arises in connection with investments already made, when a sharp rise in taxes significantly impacts the economics of a project. In Kazakh legislation this problem is handled in a more radical manner using the provisions on stability of legislation (the so – called «grandfather clause»).
Article 6 of the Foreign Investment Law states that:
if the position of a foreign investor is made worse as a result of amendments to legislation and (or) the introduction or amendments of international agreements, the legislation applicable at the time the investment was made shall apply to the foreign investments for a period of 10 years, and in the case of long-term contracts (over 10 years) with authorised state bodies, up to the end of the effective period of the contract unless otherwise stipulated therein.
However, this provision has recently come under strong attack from government officials and in national business circles on the grounds that it discriminates against Kazakh entrepreneurs who do not enjoy these guarantees.
A belief rapidly gaining currency in Kazakhstan is that the playing field for foreign and national investors ought to be a level one. This has to do with the fact the state has now consolidated and strengthened its capital base, and the policy of import substitution is now firmly at the top of the economic agenda. Against this backdrop, a draft law on 'Investment' is currently in preparation, which will combine the current Foreign Investment Law and the Law on State Support for Direct Investment. The new law will place foreign and national investors on an equal footing, and it appears that Article 6 of the Foreign Investment Law will be excluded. The provisions relating to investments already made will remain in effect, but new investments will only have the benefit of the guarantees provided by ЕСТ Article 21(5).
5. CONCLUSIONS
Nevertheless these problems and difficulties do not in any way detract from the enormous significance that the signature and ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty have for Kazakhstan. Drafting and signature of the ЕСТ coincided with a period when Kazakhstan was emerging into statehood, and the nation has now been independent for more than a decade. During its involvement in the Energy Charter, Kazakhstan has espoused international principles for the regulation of investment in the energy sector and in the sphere of trade in energy materials and equipment. In the process of establishing its own independent market-oriented legislation, Kazakhstan has actively taken on board the achievements made by the global community in the course of these deliberations.
Kazakhstan has made a singular and positive contribution towards setting up the Energy Charter and drafting the Treaty. It is now most actively involved in preparing the Supplementary Treaty, Trade Amendment, Transit Protocol, Blue Book and other key elements of the Energy Charter.
Kazakhstan regards the Energy Charter Treaty as part of its own state system and legal framework, and will therefore strive to ensure that the Energy Charter continues to evolve and takes its rightful place in the ranks of international organizations steering the development of the global economy.
Author of the article: Maidan K. Suleimenov.
The article is published in: 1) Oil and Gas Law in Kazakhstan: National and International Perspectives. The Нague. London, New York: Kluwer law international, 2004. Сhapter I.
2) Private Law of the Republic of Kazakhsta: history and modernity. Volume 7, 2011.
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