Oil&Gas and Mining sectors

Our client base comprises mining and industrial companies, financial institutions and service providers. Our lawyers offer services including consultancy for various issues of the mining industry, including the development of solid mineral deposits (gold, copper, iron, uranium, nickel, asbestos, etc.), the generation and distribution of power, the processing of products and other operations.

Experience in the mining sector:
·    advising Kazakhstan mining companies on labour law issues (drafting labour contracts for services for the company’s key employees and the Individual Employment Agreement, receipt of work permits, drafting employment in accordance with  the new Labour Code, providing consultation in relation to off-hour and joint work, vacation, sick leaves and other labour issues);
·    advising one of the largest Kazakhstani mining company on rights of minority shareholders;
·    advising the underwriters of an IPO in London and Kazakhstan of a large Kazakh Mining & Metal Group (ongoing);
·    consultation and provision of legal services to a large international aluminium producing company;
·    advising a large international bank on the financing of a US$ 300m aluminium re-processing project;
·    consultation and provision of legal services to Asia Pacific Precious Metal Hong Kong Company in relation to the purchase of a gold-mining company in Kazakhstan and US$ 10m investments;
·    acting for CitiGroup and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation on its loan facility to APPAK (KazAtomProm subsidiary);
·    acting as consultant to a Government Working Groups in negotiations leading to the conclusion of subsurface exploration and production contracts, for example, with INKAI (a JV of KazAtomProm and Cameco).
·    represention of the interests of Kazakhstan’s largest zinc producer to Government bodies in the course of formulating, discussing and approving amendments to laws regulating mining activities;
·    represention of the interests of Kazakhstan’s largest gold producer in selecting potential investors, raising investment capital and establishing a joint venture;
·    provision of legal services to a leading European bank on trade and customs regulations and on processing and exporting gold and other precious metals;
·    providing consultancy to a US company on privatising a large Kazakh mining company;
·    providing full assistance in preparing contract documentation for the trust management of the Government block of shares in a Kazakh Mining Company and consultancy with regard to its operations;
·    advising a large Russian Mining Company on its acquisition of a Kazakh Coal Producing Company.

Oil & Gas

GRATA’s client base comprises businesses of Oil and Gas industry and related sectors, including Exploration and Production, Industrial, Transport and other Oil and Gas Service Companies.

Some examples of our experience in the field of Oil and Gas:
·    advising an International investment bank on its financing of a proposed oil assets acquisition in Kazakhstan by a Russian oil company;
·    full legal assistance on transactions for the acquisition of oil assets in Kazakhstan;
·    full legal assistance on transactions for the receipt of loans (more than US$ 200m) from International Banks;
·    full legal assistance on a transaction for the construction of a gas utilization factory;
·    representation of the interests in court in a dispute regarding a transaction for the purchase and sale of subsoil users shares;
·    participation in litigation involving an oil spill case in Western Kazakhstan with a claim value of around $500 000 for one of the largest International oil companies;     
·    advising a large Asian company and due diligence preparation in relation to the purchase of shares in PetroKazakhstan;
·    obtaining a number of permits and approvals for a Russian company from the state authorities of Kazakhstan for the usage of a self-propelled drilling rig in a Caspian Sea (Kazakhstan) project;
·    advising a top European company with respect to the construction and operation of an oilfield equipment manufacturing plant in the Mangystauskaya oblast;
·    advising a large international oil company on its proposed sale of its oil assets in Kazakhstan;
·    advising a large international oil company on its proposed acquisition of an oil company with substantial assets in Kazakhstan, and the preparation of due diligence;
·    legal advice on the pre-export financing of oil companies, negotiations, the preparation of due diligence and legal opinions and the conclusion of contracts;
·    protection of the interests of top oil-producing companies during integrated tax audits, including transfer pricing, or review of tax audit result statements to tax and judicial authorities, with the possibility of considerable (up to 100%) revocation of such statements (cancellation of illegal extra changes more than US$ 100m);
·    provision of full legal maintenance and, as well as preparation of tax instruction with regard to the Production-Sharing Agreement, coordination and registration with tax authorities;
·    tax consultation on value-added tax (VAT) returns for oil companies (with return of VAT more than US$ 1m);
·    advising oil and gas servicing companies and other companies on labour law issues (drafting labour contracts for services for the company's key employees and the Individual Employment Agreement, receipt of work permits, drafting employments agreement in accourdance with the new Labour Code, providing consultation in relation to off-hour and joint work, vacation, sick leaves and other labour issues).