The Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan, Erlan Sarsembayev, stated that the decision of the International Financial Center “Astana” (IFC) regarding the enforcement of the arbitration ruling in favor of “Naftogaz of Ukraine” in the case against the Russian “Gazprom” will not be enforced on the territory of Kazakhstan.
This is reported by Kyiv24
The position of the Kazakh authorities regarding the IFC’s decision
According to the minister, the court order was issued unilaterally, without the participation of the respondent, and therefore it has not acquired legal force and is only of an informational nature. Sarsembayev emphasized that the respondent has the right to file a motion to annul this decision, after which a full hearing involving both parties will take place. In his opinion, it is premature to talk about the enforcement of this decision at this time.
The minister also stressed that Kazakh legislation does not contain legal mechanisms for enforcing decisions that are not related to the jurisdiction of the country or the IFC court. He noted:
“The Republic of Kazakhstan will not become a transit platform for the enforcement of decisions that have no legal connection with it. Thus, the legal mechanisms of the republic do not provide for the consideration of disputes not related to its jurisdiction, which is why the decision of the IFC court under consideration will not be enforced on the territory of Kazakhstan,” he said.
When asked about the grounds for considering the Gazprom case specifically in the IFC court, Sarsembayev explained that any person can approach the court, but that does not always mean that the court has the appropriate jurisdiction. The minister also added that the consideration of the case in the IFC is not yet complete, and a final decision will be made only after hearing the positions of both parties. Currently, amendments are being made to Kazakhstan’s legislation regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration decisions in the country.
Background and essence of the dispute between Naftogaz and Gazprom
On May 20, the first instance court of the IFC recognized and allowed the enforcement of the arbitration ruling against Gazprom in favor of Naftogaz of Ukraine, with the amount of claims exceeding 1.4 billion dollars. The dispute is related to the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine according to an agreement made in 2019, which was valid until January 1, 2025. In May 2022, due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, the gas transit through the “Sokhranivka” point was blocked; however, the Ukrainian side continued to provide transportation services through the “Sudja” point.
At the same time, Gazprom refused to pay the full cost for organizing the transit. In June 2025, the international arbitration tribunal in Switzerland ordered Gazprom to pay Naftogaz 1.37 billion dollars. The Ukrainian company emphasizes that since May 2022, the Russian side has violated contractual obligations under the take or pay principle, which became the basis for the arbitration appeal in September 2022. Naftogaz achieved final victory in court in Switzerland in March 2026.