The Legal 500

The draft law combines the principles of the Law of the RK in effect on ”Subsoil and Subsoil use” of January 27, 1996 (further the Law on Subsoil) and the Law of the RK on “Oil” of June 28, 1995 (further the Law on Oil), and involves the provisions and requirements of certain governmental resolutions and other delegated legislation.

Hereby we inform you Article 22-1 of Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 461-II dated 2 July 2003 "On securities market" was amended effective from 1 February 2012.

Ministry of Oil and Gas for the first time to impose the fines on the companies which are in breach of local content requirements.

In this issue we would like to draw your attention to recent amendment to the licensing rules.

The new law of the RK “On gas and gas supply” # 532-IV was the first time officially published in media on 9 January 2012 and has later entered into legal force on 29 January 2012 with some exceptions to be entered into legal force later, up to 1 July 2013.

Focus on service contracts Recent Labor Court Decision and identification of genuine contracts Minister of Employment order Comment

Doing Business in Kazakhstan is a guide for companies operating in or considering investment into the Kazakhstan. The 2011 edition presents an overview of the legal system and business regulations in the country.

Following an unusual series of disagreements between the President and the Parliament of Kazakhstan concerning the President’s term of office, the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan1 was amended recently -- fully in accordance with the law - - to allow for early Presidential elections. Specifically, the Parliament proposed a constitutional amendment that would have allowed a referendum on extending the current President’s term of office. However, the President did not support extending his term of office and submitted the proposed amendment to the country’s Constitutional Council, which declared the proposed amendment unconstitutional.

December 1, 2010 -- On 24 June 2010 President of the RK signed new Law of the RK «On Subsurface and Subsurface Use». One of the changes established by this Law was introduction of state ownership for associated gas. In this regard, the question remains as which state policy will our state implement in gas industry and what are the next steps to be taken further

On 16 November 2009, Kazakhstan adopted certain amendments to its Tax Code (the "Tax Amendments"). Most of the Tax Amendments take effect from 1 January 2010. However, some changes are effective retroactively from 1 January 2009. The primary purpose of the Tax Amendments is to keep the current rates of the corporate income tax and the mineral extraction tax until 2012. Another objective is to simplify tax administration and clarify certain provisions of the Tax Code.

Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will adopt new unified customs tariff and non-tariff regulations from January 1, 2010, and the Customs Union (the “CU”) of the three countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (the “EurAsEC”) will become a reality. The CU Customs Code (the “Customs Code”) is expected to take effect from July 1, 2010 to regulate the resulting integral customs zone.