Kazakhstan refuses to enforce $1.4B court ruling against Gazprom

Kazakhstan's Minister of Justice Yerlan Sarsembayev announced that a court ruling by the Astana International Financial Centre allowing Ukraine's Naftogaz to collect $1.4 billion from Russia's Gazprom will not be enforced on Kazakhstani territory.

Kazakhstan will not enforce a ruling by the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) court that granted Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz the right to collect $1.4 billion from Russian gas giant Gazprom, according to Kazakhstan's Minister of Justice [Yerlan Sarsembayev](/politicians/yerlan-sarsembayev).

The AIFC court had previously recognized Naftogaz's claim against Gazprom, making the ruling one of the largest energy-related legal disputes tied to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, Sarsembayev made clear that the Kazakhstani government has no intention of allowing the judgment to be carried out within its borders.

The decision by Astana to block enforcement of the ruling reflects Kazakhstan's continued effort to maintain a delicate geopolitical balance between its ties to Russia and its relationships with Western-aligned countries and Ukraine. Kazakhstan has repeatedly avoided taking sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, despite Western pressure to impose costs on Moscow.

Naftogaz has been pursuing international legal avenues to recoup funds from Gazprom following the breakdown of their gas transit relationship after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The company has sought to seize Gazprom assets in various jurisdictions as part of its recovery efforts.

The refusal by Kazakhstan to enforce the ruling is a significant setback for Naftogaz's asset recovery strategy and highlights the challenges Kyiv faces in using legal mechanisms to extract compensation from Russian state-owned companies in countries that remain close to Moscow.