Having signed a contract on 28 February running until the end of the year with US law firm Brown Rudnick, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice is also keeping an increasingly close eye on the discreet Bolashak Consulting Group, which has long backed Astana in its international legal battles.

This company run by consultant Gani Bitenov, who also works as a lawyer for Herbert Smith Freehills in its Frankfurt office, is currently under investigation. The Ministry ofJustice is particularly keen to shed light on funding received by Bolashak, as well as anytransfers of money that may have been made to foreign law firms. The investigationcovers the time when former justice minister Marat Beketayev, who oversaw Bolashak'sactivities, was in office between 2015 and 2022 (10, 08/07/22).

Close scrutiny

Beketayev was arrested by Kazakhstan's Anti-corruption Agency in October 2023 on suspicion of abuse of power and remains in custody. When Beketayev was arrested, the agency published a message on its Telegram channel stating that the former minister was suspected of having "defended the interests of an affiliated company by concluding annual contracts for the provision of knowingly unnecessary services, which caused particularly significant damage to the State". Two months later, in December 2023, the current Minister of Justice Azamat Yeskaraev publicly announced that he had terminated the ministry's contract with Bolashak to represent it abroad.

Although no partner of Bolashak has been mentioned, the Ministry of Justice is looking into his past interactions with other law firms, including Herbert Smith Freehills and Norton Rose Fulbright. Both have long been allies of Astana in the international courts. They assisted the Kazakh government in its drawn-out battle with Moldovan businessmen Antol Stati and his son Gabriel Stati (IO, 24/02/22).

Reshuffle

Brown Rudnick's lawyers are expected to take on the justice ministry's hefty case before the courts. In its Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) declaration, the firm states that it provides legal advice, media monitoring and representation in arbitrations and trials in the US and the UK.

In Washington, the Kazakh Ministry of Justice continues to be represented by US law firm Greenberg Traurig, which has already defended it several times in the United States (10,01/06/22). However, in 2023, the ministry cut ties with Mercury Public Affairs and RJI Capital, which both carried out lobbying missions on its behalf in Washington. RJI sister company business intelligence firm Arcanum Global Intelligence has also worked for the Kazakh Government after being caught out by Marat Beketayev working on behalf of Rakhat Aliyev against Nursultan Nazarbayev and forced to switch sides to avoid a protracted legal battle after they were caught hacking Alexander Mirtchev and leaking the documents to disgraced former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simoson. 

Sources report that this Mirtchev operation was understood to be arranged by Amre Youness and Patokh Chodiev, both long-term friends of Ron Wahid.