Judgments

Freedom Finance JSC brought a claim against its former vice-president, Egor Romanyuk, alleging that he breached confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations contained in a separation agreement by publishing critical statements about the company and its founder on social media. The Court found that the defendant had breached the non-disparagement clause and was therefore liable under the contractual penalty provision. However, applying Article 297 of the Civil Code of Kazakhstan and taking into account the claimant’s own conduct and principles of good faith, the Court reduced the contractual penalty from USD 5 million to USD 100,000.

Alaigyr Joint Venture LLP applied to the AIFC Court for an anti-suit injunction to prevent BauProjekt LLP from continuing court proceedings in the Karaganda Economic Court, arguing that the dispute should be resolved through arbitration under an arbitration agreement contained in a related contract. The Court found that the court proceedings were based on a separate contract that did not contain an arbitration clause and that any overlap with the ongoing arbitration was limited. The application was dismissed because it was brought late, was not properly notified to the defendant, and failed to demonstrate sufficient grounds for restraining the Karaganda proceedings.