Previously announced claims against employees of Tethys Aral Gas LLP in Kazakhstan have been dismissed, the company reported on November 15, 2016.
The Kazakhstan-focused oil and gas producer Tethys Petroleum said today that the previously announced claims against employees of its wholly owned subsidiary Tethys Aral Gas (TAG) have been dismissed.
«Tethys wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Office of the Almaty City Prosecutor in quickly reviewing the claims and dismissing the case» it said.
Computers and documents taken during the investigation have been returned but the company said that it «continues to work to have the court imposed freezing order over TAG's bank accounts lifted and restore normal business operations as soon as possible.»
The Cayman Islands-registered company suggested November 6, 2016, that its own experiences in a country where it has invested $250mn and paid taxes cast grave doubt on the sincerity of the government and judiciary’s stated aim of improving the investment climate of the central Asian republic.
Over the space of a short period its sole gas sales contract has been unilaterally terminated for no reason; a life-saving finance deal with a supposedly ‘friendly country partner’ Olisol scrapped; assets frozen a few days before it was even notified of claims against it; and police have arrested management in an unusually heavy-handed manner in response to allegations of theft, it said, preventing it from running its operations.
Tethys said it is preparing to appeal to the head of the executive office of Nazarbaev, to the general prosecutor and other Kazakh government agencies, foreign embassies and trade associations requesting their assistance and intervention to help resolve these issues.
Author: William Powell
