On 30 September 2015, Kazenergy hosted a roundtable on the ‘Settlement of Investment Disputes’, organised in cooperation with the Energy Charter Secretariat at the X. Kazenergy Eurasian Forum. The roundtable was an exercise to understand the opinion and experience of the different stakeholders involved in dispute resolution in the energy sector regarding amicable settlement mechanisms. As the Energy Charter Secretary General Urban Rusnák outlined in the first roundtable in the Peace Palace in May 2015, ‘dialogue is the first step towards solving problems and the Energy Charter is the global forum for such dialogue in the energy sector.’
Representatives of international institutions, governments and companies discussed the need and benefits of alternative resolution mechanisms for solving energy disputes. Companies want disputes to be solved early and to maintain a good long term relation with the governments. The general, common message was the importance of dialogue and mediation to amicably solve international energy disputes before the problem escalates into a full claim. However, the main problem lies on the effective implementation of those mechanisms, as well as in raising awareness among the relevant stakeholders. Participants welcomed the initiative of the Energy Charter Secretariat, that is working with the International Mediation Institute and several dispute resolution institutions in order to produce a clear and effective framework for investment mediation/conciliation in the energy sector.
The forum was opened with remarks from:
Djambulat Sarsenov
Deputy Chairman of KAZENERGY, Special Representative of the SG of the Energy Charter
Urban Rusnák
Secretary General of the Energy Charter Secretariat
Uzakbay Karabalin
First Vice-Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Deputy Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference
Meg Kinnear
Secretary General, ICSID
Annette Magnusson
Secretary General, the Arbitration Institute of the SCC
The roundtable was divided into two different panels, both moderated by Nina Grigorievna Vilkova, Prof. of the Russian Foreign Trade Academy and international arbitrator.
The first panel comprised the following governmental representatives:
Adinda Sinnaeve
Legal Officer, Dispute Settlement and Legal Aspects of Trade Policy, DG Trade (F2), European Commission
Safinov Kanatbek
Executive secretary , Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Nurysh Tasbulatov
Chief Expert, Department of State Property Rights, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Serkan Yikarbaba
Legal Counsel, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Turkey
The second panel included the following energy company representatives:
Murray Done
Associate General Counsel, Upstream, Non Operated Ventures, Shell
Rustam Zhursunov
Deputy Chairman of the Board, National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Theodore Etchison
General Manager, Operations, Tengizchevroil LLP
Moldir Zhaksybayeva
Director, Legal Department, «Total E&P Kazakhstan»
Asset Kurmanbayev
Deputy Director, International contracts department, JSC «NC KazMunayGas»
David Goldberg
Partner, London, Moscow, White & Case
Zhumageldy Yelyubayev
Chevron Eurasia Business Unit Managing Counsel