Dentons

Aigoul Kenjebayeva is the Partner for Kazakhstan at Dentons. She has led the practice in Kazakhstan ever since, and also served as Central Asia Managing Partner from 1994 until 2022. Her particular areas of specialization, acquired from over 30 years as a practicing lawyer in Kazakhstan and 11 years as a researcher in the economics of law, include corporate/M&A, energy/natural resources, PPP/infrastructure projects, IP, competition law, and dispute resolution. She is widely considered a top choice for dispute resolution in Kazakhstan. Since 2017, Aigoul serves as the first Kazakhstan lawyer appointed as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. Aigoul currently serves for the fourth year as a member of the International Council under the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan. She is also a member of the arbitration panel of the International Arbitration Center at the Astana International Financial Center, a member of the Users’ Committee of the AIFC Court, a member of the Kazakhstan Bar Association Board, a member of the Kazakhstan Petroleum Lawyers Association Board and the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway in Almaty. In 2019, Aigoul was awarded with the Certificate of Honor of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for merit in public and social activities. In 2020, Aigoul received a prestigious award from the Republic of Kazakhstan Supreme Court “For the Contribution to the Development of International Cooperation”.

Abai is the Managing Partner at Dentons Kazakhstan. He has been actively advising clients in Kazakhstan and across the CIS for more than 25 years. He focuses on complex M&A and corporate transactions, including cross-border acquisitions and disposals, as well as the diverse finance transactions. His experience includes advising on the most complex and unique M&A and financing transactions in Kazakhstan. Abai has been the preferred legal counsel to the leading financial institutions and private investment firms in Kazakhstan for many years, including Citibank, Bank of China, ICBC, EBRD, IFC, KAZ Minerals and ERG. Abai is a regular speaker at conferences and is a contributing author to many local and international legal and business publications.

Gani Ashimkhan is a Partner in Dentons’ Almaty office. He focuses on foreign investment issues, cross-border M&A, and general corporate transactions. His excellent background includes legislative drafting in the areas of both public and private law, advising private equity, banking and other corporate and private clients on various M&A deals and joint-venture agreements, advising corporate clients on commercial leases.