Investment Disputes: Causes, Consequences, Conclusions

Overview No. 1: Arbitration Case – AES Corp v. Republic of Kazakhstan

Over the past 27 years, the Republic of Kazakhstan ("RK") has been involved in more than 19 arbitration proceedings related to the breach of its obligations to protect investments ("Investment Disputes"). In total, the amount of claims from foreign investors seeking compensation from the RK for losses have exceeded 12 billion US dollars, which represents over 28% of the revenue portion of the country's national budget for 2023. This amount does not include the expenses incurred by the RK on legal services related to these disputes, where the legal fees alone (excluding other expenses) charged by foreign law firms for each case of this nature range from 5 to 14 million US dollars, impacting the state budget.