GRATA International Almaty will hold an online meeting of the working group at the CCI France-Kazakhstan on legal issues

On November 25, 2022., GRATA International Almaty jointly with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of France-Kazakhstan will hold an online meeting of the working group on the topic: "Remote work, combined remote work: legal regulation and tax obligations".

Online meeting will start at: 10.00-12.00 (Almaty time).

The speakers of the meeting will be: Marina Kolesnikova, Counsel and Lyazzat Zhilkibagarova, Associate of GRATA International.

The meeting will be held in Russian.

To participate in this meeting, please contact by email astana@ccifk.kz or by phone: +7 727 354 14 86.

Personal data of the employee: what you need to know?

In the age of rapid development of information technology, the importance of protecting the personal data of citizens comes to the fore. In many countries, the protection of personal data is regulated by national legislation, and liability up to criminal liability is provided for the dissemination of personal data without the consent of the subject. Given the importance of this topic, especially for employers, we decided to hold an online conference on the "Features of working with personal data of employees in the following jurisdictions: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan".

Date: December 8, 2022.

For more details about speakers and time, please see the program here.

GRATA International will hold a webinar: Redomiciliation of holding companies

On December 14, 2022, GRATA International Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Russia will hold a webinar on the “Redomiciliation of holding companies from Cyprus and other offshore jurisdictions to AIFC” in an online format.

Time: 9:00 AM CET time.

The program includes:

• Introduction and motivations to consider alternative jurisdictions for holding companies incorporated in Cyprus and other offshore jurisdictions.
• Redomiciliation to and out of Cyprus.
• AIFC: rules and benefits.
• Redomiciliation to from Cyprus to the AIFC procedures and relevant requirements.
• Question-Answer section.

This webinar will be of interest:

• practicing lawyers;
• auditors;
• international tax consultants;
• companies CEOs and CFOs.

Read more here →

GRATA lawyers will speak at the business forum "Belarus - Kazakhstan: Opportunities and Prospects in Logistics and Production"

On November 25, 2022, ASER together with the Great Stone Industrial Park, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Kazakhstan, is holding a business forum "Belarus - Kazakhstan: Opportunities and Prospects in Logistics and Production".

Darya Zhanysbayeva, firm's Partner, will speak in the panel discussion: “Logistics of the future in the EAEU: where to look for a window of opportunity”.

Kamila Urazalina, firm's Senior Associate, will  speak with a presentation on the topic: "The procedure for the import, export of goods and customs administration."

Participation in the Forum is free!

Almat Daumov, Partner of GRATA International will speak at the MINEX Eurasia Conference 2022

The 10th MINEX Eurasia Mining Conference will be held on 28th November, 2022 in London and will be broadcasted online. 

This event attracts the experience of over 30 industry experts, senior officials and companies who will discuss the changes, challenges and opportunities in the mining industry in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and mining hotspots in Europe.

Almat Daumov, Partner at GRATA International Kazakhstan will speak in the 1st session on geopolitics and its impact on the present and future of mining in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, particularly on  "Kazakhstan: facilitation of investment in mining industry". 

Highlights from the Chairman’s Report to the GRATA General Assembly 29th October 2022

It gives me great pleasure to open the meeting of the General Assembly of GRATA International and make my report on activities over the past year.  Though we had a virtual meeting last year, we have not had an in person gathering since 2019. As we all know, this was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted all our lives. 

The past three years have been difficult, not just on account of the pandemic, but also because of the economic disruption that it gave rise to and the resultant downturn in business. There have also been other, more recent factors, with disturbances in Kazakhstan and the current conflict in Ukraine.

However, I am pleased to report that GRATA International has demonstrated the strength of its business model and the resilience of its people by coming through all this still together but also bigger and better.

Let us consider some highlights:

• We have added two new offices and jurisdictions with Armenia and Cyprus.
• We have grown the revenue by 14.8% in comparison to last year and turnover has returned to pre-COVID levels.
• We have secured better rankings in the international directories. GRATA now has a total of nine Tier 1 rankings in Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and IFLR1000.
• The number of transactions across the network has increased year-on-year by 24%.

Gulnur Nurkeeva has been recommended by the Secretariat and appointed as the Chair of BRILA Kazakhstan Task Force

We are very pleased to inform you that Gulnur Nurkeeva, Partner, GRATA International China has been recommended by the Secretariat and appointed by the Council of BRILA as the Chair of BRILA Kazakhstan Task Force.

Since its establishment in 2019, BRILA has developed into an influential international lawyer organization with your consistent support and played its due role in promoting the rule of law in Belt and Road countries and regions. Currently, BRILA has set up 5 representative offices respectively in Xi’an, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Haikou and Hangzhou, and organized 9 professional committees and 34 national/regional task forces. They have made indispensable contributions to building a global legal services network of BRILA.

Recommendation letter.

Counsel of GRATA International spoke at Speaker Night at Astana Hub

On November 17, 2022, at Speaker night, Timur Berekmoinov, Head of the Intellectual Property Department of GRATA International, spoke on the topic: Security and protection of IT products for the subjects of the Technological Park.

The event covered the following issues:

• security and protection of IT products;
• patenting solutions in the field of IT;
• commercialization of objects of copyright, including IT products;
• Kazakhstan judicial practice in the field of IT technologies.

The speaker's presentation is available here.

The event recording can be viewed on the Astana Hub YouTube channel.

Managing Partner of the firm held a webinar: Formation of partnerships between business co-owners

On November 15, 2022, Dmitry Samigullin, Managing Partner of GRATA International Samara, held a webinar: "Formation of partnerships between business co-owners".

At the webinar Dmitry told:

• How to create projects in partnership and co-ownership?
• Which partners (co-owners) to take, and which - in no case?
• What issues should partners discuss?
• What answers do not fit and you need to ask further?
• How should this discussion be concluded?

Read more in the presentation.

The recording of the webinar is available on the YouTube channel.

GRATA International held a webinar: Doing business in Mongolia

On November 10, 2022, a webinar was held on the issues of starting a business in Mongolia.

Today Mongolia is one of the rapidly developing countries with a significant amount of mineral resources. Starting a business in Mongolia is among the best jurisdictions to open a company.

Leading GRATA experts in Mongolia spoke about the challenges entrepreneurs may face:

• Legal forms of starting a business in Mongolia.
• Obligations of a non-resident taxpayer.
• Enforcement proceedings of decisions of foreign courts and arbitral awards.

For more information, you can go to our YouTube channel and watch the recording from the webinar.

GRATA International Almaty office took part in Speed Networking organized by KIMEP Law school in cooperation with KIMEP Career Center

On October 28, 2022, a Speed Networking event was held in Almaty at the KIMEP building.

SPEED NETWORKING event is a popular format in America; a useful tool for establishing initial contacts, meeting potential partners, and for companies - another effective way for company branding.

The purpose of this event is to help establish connections (networking) between students and companies actively looking for talent.

Saule Akhmetova, Partner and Director of GRATA Almaty office took part in this event, and also noted a responsible approach of some students to the preparation of the event, good training of young lawyers.

Also, 20 companies and 20 best students of the Law School of the last year of study took part in the event.

Read more here.

AHK Azerbaijan in collaboration with GRATA International Azerbaijan organized a Business Trip to the Karabakh Economic Region

On 25 October 2022, AHK Azerbaijan in collaboration with GRATA International Azerbaijan organized a Business Trip to the Karabakh Economic Region, which was attended by about 50 company representatives. In the course of the business trip the participants had the opportunity to get familiarized with the construction works in Fizuli and Shusha cities, and participated in several business meetings. The participants were also given a brief presentation on projects in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

Representatives of GRATA International Mongolia LLP have participated in and sponsored the Lawyers Forum-2022

The fourth annual “Lawyers Forum” was held on October 21, 2022, with the theme “Concept of the Constitution-challenges and difficulties” by the Mongolian Bar Association. On the 30^th anniversary of the democratic and novel Constitution of Mongolia, lawyers, academicians, and researchers discussed their opinion on recent amendments to the Constitution.

At the forum, they exchanged their perspective on various constitutional issues including but not limited to the protection of the value of the Constitution, the basic structure, and the fundamental concept of the Constitution, etc. GRATA International Mongolia LLP sponsored the forum apart from its lawyers and attorneys participating.