London court rejects Mongolian company's lawsuit against Kazakh gov’t

On February 2, 2016 the English Commercial Court in the High Court of Justice in London found in favor of the government of Kazakhstan by dismissing a claim brought by Mongolian company Erdenet Mining Corporation against the government of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Ministry of Justice said.

“Erdenet brought a claim in relation to a debt allegedly owed to Erdenet by “Balkhashmys" JSC under contracts entered into force in 1995 and 1996," said the ministry. “Despite the fact that “Balkhashmys" JSC was a private legal entity which was liquidated in 1999, Erdenet argued that the government of Kazakhstan was liable for the alleged “Balkhashmys" debt."

In December 2014, Erdenet sued the government of Kazakhstan in the English Commercial Court claiming that the government of Kazakhstan agreed to the jurisdiction of the English courts during a series of discussions between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The government of Kazakhstan challenged the jurisdiction of the English courts.

On February 2, 2016, the English Commercial Court found in favor of the government of Kazakhstan that it had no jurisdiction to hear Erdenet's claim. The Judge said that the government of Kazakhstan “had the much better of the argument" that no jurisdiction agreement had been reached between the parties and that it was “inherently unlikely" that such an agreement had been reached.

The Court ordered Erdenet to pay 200,000 pounds (1.45 pounds = $1) for the government of Kazakhstan's legal costs and Erdenet's application for leave to appeal was rejected by the Judge on the ground that there were “insufficient prospects of success on appeal".

Source: trend.az