Amsterdam District Court lifts arrest on $22B assets of Kazakh oil fund

Amsterdam District Court has lifted a freeze on Kazakh sovereign fund’s assets worth $22 billion, the Kazakh Justice Ministry said in a message on Jan.24.

"The court agreed with the position of the National Bank and the Justice Ministry of Kazakhstan, which participated in the process as a third parties, and ruled that the assets of the National Fund are inviolable," the ministry said.

The assets held by the fund’s custodian, Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N), were frozen last October after a lawsuit by Moldovan businessman Anatolie Stati, who seeks to enforce a $500 million arbitration ruling against the Kazakh government made in 2010.

The court also ordered Stati to pay court costs to the Kazakh side.

The Kazakh Justice Ministry added that it will seek the reversal of a court ruling in Belgium, which had frozen some Kazakh assets.

In addition, as Bloomberg reported, in January 2018 the Amsterdam court upheld the decision to freeze Samruk-Kazyna's stake in KMG Kashagan B.V., whose nominal value is estimated at $5.2 billion.