Aequitas is engaged exclusively in providing a wide range of legal services to Kazakh and foreign clients. Legal assistance and advice are provided in the following areas:

Corporate Law Advising clients in this sphere includes establishment of legal entities (their branches, representative offices); legal support to transactions involving merger and acquisition of companies and assets; transactions on the transfer of blocks of shares into trust management; advising on corporate management and general issues of corporate law. The firm’s lawyers have a vast experience in conducting due diligence of various types of companies.  The firm has developed and verified in practice provisions of internal corporate documents assisting in solving the dead-end situations and overcoming gaps in the legislation on corporate relations.  We have successfully rendered legal support to the listing of securities of Kazakh companies at the London Stock Exchange and Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.

This aspect of the activity is referred to the most active segments of the firm’s practice and it commenced from the establishment of one of the first joint ventures in Kazakhstan with foreign capital in 1993.

Subsoil Use Subsoil use is one of the key aspects of the firm activities. Aequitas represents major oil and mining companies, including rendering legal assistance in drafting and execution of subsoil use contracts, including production sharing agreements; the firm acts as a legal adviser in the implementation of such projects as establishment of joint ventures; merger & acquisition; privatization and financing; construction of pipelines and infrastructure in the performance of activities in oil and mining industries. 

The reputation of the firm in this sphere is confirmed by the fact that from the first days of the firm’s work and through the present time one of the first clients (from 1993) is corporation Exxon (ExxonMobil Corporation).

Banking; Finance; Capital Markets The clients of the firm are major world banks, financial organizations, and companies.  We were advising our clients on derivative financial instruments, regulatory issues and many other types of financing, including syndicated loans; project financing; financing of acquisition of assets and blocks of shares.  One on the most active segments of the current practice of Aequitas is representation of the lead managers in placement of bonds by major Kazakh companies at the international financial markets.

Among the first projects of Aequitas was providing consultations to Chase Manhattan Bank on the issue of establishment of a joint investment bank in Kazakhstan in 1993.

Construction The firm renders, on a regular basis, the legal services in the area of construction of infrastructure facilities servicing the major oil companies’ projects, including construction of an artificial island in the Caspian offshore zone; infrastructure facilities in the Caspian Sea ports; oil pipelines.  The firm rendered services in connection with the implementation of projects financed by the World Bank for construction of irrigation systems, construction of objects of social infrastructure.  Aequitas acted as an adviser on the evaluation of legal risks of the contemplated construction of the unique ski mountain complex and Olympic village in the foothills of Zailiyskoye Alatau.  We have also protected the interests of the Kazakhstan Government in a dispute with the group of foreign contracting companies pertaining to reconstruction (construction) of a section of Almaty - Astana highway of the Republic’s significance.  Lately, Aequitas actively represents the interests of foreign investors in a number of major projects on construction of micropolises and other objects of civil construction in the city of Almaty.

Information Technologies, Telecommunication, Postal Services Representation of interests in that sector includes advising the Kazakhstan Government in connection with the tender privatization of the national telephone company; legal assistance, including the performance of due diligence, in purchase of cellular operator and also satellite and cable communication operator; advising, on a regular basis, an international postal company on all aspects of Kazakhstan legislation.  The firm is a legal adviser of the leading companies rendering telecommunication services.

Energy Sector The expertise of the firm’s lawyers in the energy sector projects includes business structuring and acquisition of assets, privatization of combined heat and power stations in the Northern and Eastern Kazakhstan, legal support to projects in the coal sector and current activity of heat supplying and electricity companies, settlement of disputes related to the energy projects in international arbitration.

Agricultural Industry During the entire period of its activities, the firm renders services on a wide scope of issues of agricultural industry, including on various types of legal security of debts of Kazakhstan grain producers for the chemicals supplied to them; documentation of rights to land use; settlement of disputes with grain storage facilities; agricultural machinery leasing, and other agriculture-related issues.

Settlement of Disputes  The Firm has a long-term experience in successful representing the clients’ interests both in international arbitration bodies and in courts of Kazakhstan and foreign states on a very vast range of issues.  Our lawyers participated in the development of recently adopted laws on arbitration tribunals and international commercial arbitrage.  The Firm has on the staff a consultant who earlier was a judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan.  Some representatives of the firm are members of a number of arbitration tribunals in Kazakhstan and abroad, and also read lectures for candidates for master’s degree at legal educational institutions and working judges of Kazakhstan courts.

 Consumer goods and Industrial Products; Trade. The Firm’s layers have a very significant practice in advising the clients in the field of production, distribution, marketing, and sales of consumables and industrial products, including in drafting and entering into contracts, representation of clients’ interests in the state bodies, disputes settlement, selection of regimes of customs clearance of freight, standardization, certification, and advertising.

Ecology The firm always paid much attention to the issues of ecology that are closely connected with the implementation of the projects in the area of subsoil use and energy.  The experience in such area includes both advising on legal regulation and legal evaluation of ecologic risks as well as settlement of disputes arising from the environmental pollution.  The firm rendered assistance to ExxonMobil Corporation and its local JV in the preparation of the classifier of ecological and other legislation which regulates the ecological issues; represented the interests of Tengizchevroil LLP in connection with the consideration at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan the case on compensation of ecological damage, and provided general consultations on the issues of ecology.  Aequitas advised international consortium OKIOC which implements the project for exploration for oil in the Caspian region on the scope of responsibility as provided for by Kazakhstan legislation for oil spills; the firm provided general consultations on the ecological issues for a number of other companies in connection with their projects in Kazakhstan, as well as regular review of ecological aspects in the performance of due diligence of various companies.

Due Diligence The firm carries out the due diligence of activities of enterprises in connection with different projects of our clients including the purchase of shares and assets, financing the activities, assignment of the rights and licenses for the subsoil use.  The firm participated in the performance of due diligence of activities of the enterprises which are of importance for Kazakhstan economy.

Privatization  The firm’s experience in area of privatization may be called unique.  Lawyers of the firm advised the major foreign investors as well as governmental bodies in privatization of important objects in the area of oil and gas, gold, metals, uranium production, manufacturing of mass consumer goods.

Labor issues  Labor issues are referred to one of the most active areas of interests of our clients.  During the work we have to resolve a great amount of the issues, including drafting and legal review of individual employment contracts and collective agreements, regulation of labor of foreign employees, employees with non-standard working day and employees working under rotational basis, representation of the clients’ interests in relations with the state agencies and trade unions, obtaining permits for attraction of foreign labor, advising on the issues of remuneration, liabilities of employees and employers, labor safety, compensations, business trips, etc.  Lawyers of the firm often solve the non-standard problems that are not clearly regulated by the current labor legislation.  We have a great experience of protection of the interests of both employers and employees of the local and foreign companies.

Other Projects During the entire its history which goes back practically to the moment of declaration of independence of Kazakhstan, Aequitas actively works in different spheres of activity and on various projects, using and improving its experience and expertise. 

The Firm showed itself to the best advantage in such spheres as insurance, intellectual property, mass media, railway and water transport, and many others.  Thus, the firm was an adviser in the pilot project of commercialization of the railway network together with the Swedish Corporation Swederail, participated in the project of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development on development of commercial navigation law, on a regular basis renders consultations on different insurance events and disputes, provided assistance in registration of a series of trade marks and other individualization means.

 In the course of vigorous professional activity in which Aequitas was engaged all these years, the lawyers of the firm had to solve a great variety of problems, and the firm had acquired experience practically in all spectra of laws significant for business.  In addition to commercial issues the Firm participated in a lot of non-commercial projects, such as assistance to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, support of the other non-commercial associations and formations.

Analytical Research and Lawmaking Activity In addition to successful practical work, the firm is well-known for its analytical research and active participation in the development and improvement of the legislative acts of Kazakhstan. 

Over the recent years, Aequitas makes reviews of the laws of Kazakhstan in the field of oil and gas and solid minerals for global review «Getting the deal through» annually published by IBA; reviews on the issues of liquidation and bankruptcy, reviews on regulation of labor relations published in annual reports of the World Bank – Doing Business in 2005; Doing Business in 2006, Doing Business in 2007.  Analytical papers and reviews of our lawyers on the various aspects of Kazakhstan law are regularly published in specialized journals and analytical legal reviews in Kazakhstan and abroad. 

Partners of the firm directly participated in the development and improvement of the most important acts of civil and economy legislation of Kazakhstan, including such basic laws such as the Civil Code, the Law on Foreign Investments, the Law on Petroleum, laws on different legal entities, etc.