On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments

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The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 18, 2015 No. 409-V SAM

To ratify Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments, signed in Astana on October 7, 2010.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. NAZARBAYEV

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Serbia on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments

Entered into force on December 7, 2015 - Bulletin of International Treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2016, No. 2, art. 29

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, hereinafter referred to as the "Parties", desiring to encourage the citizens of their States to invest capital, technology and knowledge in their territories; desiring to create and maintain favorable conditions for mutual investment; hoping that the promotion and protection of investments will contribute to the further development of entrepreneurial activity, and thus will significantly contribute to development of economic relations between the Parties; agreed on the following:

Article 1 Definition

For the purposes of this Agreement: 1. The term "investment" means any type of assets established or acquired by an investor of one Party in the territory of the other Party in accordance with the national legislation of the State of the latter Party, and in particular, but not exclusively, includes: a) movable and immovable property and other property rights such as mortgages, pledges, sureties, usufructs and other rights; b) equity participation in enterprises; c) bonds and shares, as well as other types of securities; (d) Monetary claims or any performance of works having economic value in accordance with national legislation; (e) Intellectual property rights (such as copyrights and related rights, patents, industrial designs or models, trademarks), as well as goodwill, technical processes and know-how; (f) Concessions granted in accordance with the national legislation of the State of the Party in whose territory the investments were made. Changing the form in which assets are invested or reinvested should not affect their nature as investments. 2. The term "income" means the amounts received from investments and, in particular, but not exclusively, includes profits, income from capital, dividends, interest income, royalties and fees. 3. The term "investor" means: a) an individual who holds the nationality of one of the Parties and invests in the territory of the other Party.; b) a legal entity registered, established or otherwise organized in accordance with the national legislation of one of the Parties and making investments in the territory of the other Party. 4. The term "territory" means: regarding the Republic of Kazakhstan: the territory of the State within the land, sea and air borders, including land, waters, subsoil and airspace, in respect of which the Republic of Kazakhstan exercises sovereignty and extends jurisdiction in accordance with the norms of national legislation and international law; Regarding the Republic of Serbia: the space over which the Republic of Serbia exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with its national legislation and regulations and international law.

Article 2 Investment promotion and protection

1. Each Party promotes and creates favorable conditions for investors of the other Party to make investments in its territory and allows such investments in accordance with the national legislation of its State. 2. The investments of investors of each Party will be provided with fair and equitable treatment, as well as full protection and security on the territory of the other Party. None of the Parties on its territory impairs the management, maintenance, use, implementation or other disposal of investments by investors of the other Party by unjustified or discriminatory measures. 3. Each Party shall create favorable conditions for the provision of visas and work permits necessary in their territory so that citizens of the other Party can carry out their investment-related activities. 4. Reinvestment of profits earned from investments that are carried out in accordance with the national legislation of the State of the Party in whose territory the initial investments were made enjoys the same protection as the initial investments.

Article 3 National and most-favored-nation treatment

1. Each Party in its territory provides investors and investments of the other Party with a regime no less favorable than that which it provides to its own investors and investments or investments and investors of any third State, whichever is more favorable. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article should not be considered as obliging one Party to provide the investor of the other Party with a regime advantage, preference or privilege that the latter Party may grant to any third State in accordance with: a) any international agreement on membership in an economic association, customs union, free trade area, monetary union or other similar international agreement establishing such associations or an international treaty establishing another form of regional cooperation, in which either Party is or may become a party, or b) any international agreement related in whole or in part to taxation. 3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not be considered as allowing one Party to apply any other means of dispute settlement with the investor of the other Party, other than those provided for in Article 9 of this Agreement.

Article 4 Compensation of losses

1. Investors of a Party whose investments have suffered losses as a result of war or other armed conflict, state of emergency, insurrection, rebellion or rebellion in the territory of the other Party shall be provided with a regime for restitution, compensation, compensation or any other settlement no less favorable than the regime that the latter Party provides to its own investors or investors of any third State. 2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, to investors of a Party who, during any of the situations referred to in this paragraph, suffered losses in the territory of the other Party as a result of: (a) the requisition of their property by the authorities of the other Party, or (b) the destruction of their property by the authorities of the other Party, not caused by military action or If necessary, fair and appropriate compensation is provided for losses incurred during the requisition or as a result of the destruction of their property.

Article 5 Expropriation

1. Neither Party will expropriate or nationalize, directly or indirectly, the investments of an investor of the other Party or take any similar measures (hereinafter expropriation), except for those taken: a) for public purposes; b) in a non-discriminatory manner; c) in accordance with due legal procedure; d) with prompt, adequate and effective compensation.  Such compensation should correspond to the market value of the expropriated investments immediately prior to expropriation or before the impending expropriation became publicly known, whichever occurred earlier, and should include interest at the commercial rate established on a market basis for deposits in the currency of payment from the date of expropriation to the date of actual payment of compensation, and should also include be fully realizable and freely translatable. 2. An investor whose investments have been expropriated has the right to an immediate review of his case and an assessment of his investments by judicial or other competent authorities in accordance with the principles established by this Agreement and the national legislation of the State in whose territory the investments were made.

Article 6 Translations

1. Each Party, in accordance with the national legislation of its State, shall ensure to the investors of the other Party, after the fulfillment of all tax obligations by the investors, the transfer to and from its territory of amounts related to their investments and transferable payments related to investments. Such payments include in particular, but not exclusively: a) invested capital and additional funds to maintain or increase investments; b) profits; c) repayment of debt on loans issued to companies; (d) Income from the total or partial liquidation or sale of investments; (e) Compensation paid in accordance with articles 4 and 5 of this Agreement; (f) Payments resulting from the settlement of a dispute in accordance with Article 9 of this Agreement; (g) Unused accruals from the investor's employees who are nationals of the State of one of the Parties carrying out their activities related to investments in the territory of the other Party. 2. Each Party shall ensure that the transfer referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is made in freely convertible currency at the market exchange rate of the currency of the Party in whose territory the investment was made effective on the day of the transfer. 3. A Party may delay or prevent the transfers referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article through the equal, non-discriminatory and fair application of its State's national legislation concerning the adoption of protective measures for the required period of time, which may be taken in exceptional circumstances, such as: serious difficulties with the balance of payments and external financial difficulties or threats to the receiving Party. 4. The measures referred to in paragraph 3 of this article: (a) must comply with the Articles of the Agreement of the International Monetary Fund of July 22, 1944, as long as the Party taking the measures is a party to the above Articles; (b) will be temporary and must be eliminated as soon as conditions permit, and the other Party will be informed immediately. 5. Nothing in this Article shall be considered as changing the rights and obligations assumed by the Parties as a participant in the International Monetary Fund.

Article 7 Subrogation

1. If one Party or its authorized body makes a payment in connection with compensation for losses incurred by its investors, in accordance with the guarantee provided for investments in the territory of the other Party, the other Party must recognize: a) transfer to the first Party or its authorized body of any rights and claims of the investor, who is reimbursed for the loss in accordance with the law or a legal transaction, and: b) that the first Party or its authorized body has the right to exercise such rights and enforce such claims by virtue of subrogation, and must assume obligations, related to investments. 2. In such a transfer of rights or claims, the first Party must not exceed the original rights or claims of the investor. 3. The subrogation of the rights and obligations of the investor to whom the loss is reimbursed must also be carried out in accordance with the transfer of payments carried out in accordance with Article 6 of this Agreement.

Article S Settlement of disputes between the Parties

1. Disputes between the Parties regarding the interpretation and application of this Agreement should, if possible, be resolved through negotiations and consultations. 2. If the dispute cannot be resolved in this way within six (6) months from the date on which such negotiations were requested by either Party in writing through diplomatic channels, it must be submitted to the arbitral tribunal at the request of either Party. 3. Such an arbitration court referred to in paragraph 2 of this article should be established for each individual case as follows. Within three (3) months of receiving the request for arbitration, each Party shall appoint one member of the Court. These two members must then select a third-country national as Chairman, who, after approval by the Parties, must be appointed within two (2) months. 4. If the necessary appointments have not been made within the period specified in paragraph 3 of this Article, either Party, in the absence of any other agreement, shall invite the President of the International Court of Justice to make the necessary appointments. If the President is a national of a State of either Party or another circumstance prevents the performance of this function, the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations is invited to make the necessary appointments. If the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice is a national of a State of either Party or another circumstance prevents the performance of this function, the next oldest member of the International Court of Justice should be invited. 5. The Arbitration court shall make a decision based on the provisions of this Agreement, as well as on the basis of generally accepted principles and norms of international law. The arbitration court makes a decision based on a majority vote. The decision of the arbitration court must be binding on both Parties. 6. Each Party shall bear the costs associated with representation in the arbitration. The expenses of the Chairman's activities and the remaining expenses should be divided equally between the Parties. The court may determine in its decision that most of the costs should be covered by one of the Parties, and such a decision should be binding on both Parties. The court determines its own procedure.

Article 9 Settlement of disputes between the investor and the Party

1. Disputes between an investor of one of the Parties and the other Party concerning the obligations of the latter under this Agreement and related to investments of the investor of the first Party should be settled, if possible, through negotiations. 2. If the dispute referred to in paragraph 1 of this article cannot be settled within six (6) months from the date of written notification of the claim, the dispute may, at the discretion of the parties to the dispute, be referred for settlement to: (a) the competent court of the Party in whose territory the investment was made, or (b) arbitration. hoc, established in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The authorized body appointed in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 6 of the Arbitration Rules should be the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce, or (c) The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, in the case when both Parties are parties to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Natural or Legal Persons of Other States, opened for signature in Washington on March 18, 1965, with the venue of the arbitration court in Paris/Geneva, in accordance with article 63 of the Convention, or d) The Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), with the seat of the arbitration court in Paris/Geneva. 3. If an investor of one Party and the other Party or its department or a state-owned enterprise have concluded an investment agreement that provides for a dispute settlement procedure arising from this agreement, then only this procedure will be applied. 4. An investor of one of the Parties loses the right to apply to a court or arbitration in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, in case of subrogation - in accordance with Article 7 of this Agreement. 5. The decision of the arbitral tribunal rendered in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article shall be binding on both parties to the dispute. Each Party must ensure that the decision is enforced on its territory.

Article 10 Application of other provisions

If the national legislation of the State of either Party or international treaties to which the Parties are or will be Parties simultaneously contain rules entitling investments made by investors of the other Party to more favorable treatment than provided by this Agreement, such national legislation of the State and international treaties will prevail over this Agreement.  The provisions of this Article should not be considered as allowing a Party to apply any other method of dispute settlement with an investor of the other Party, other than those provided for in Article 9 of this Agreement.

Article 11 Consultations

Representatives of the Parties may, if necessary, hold consultations on the application of this Agreement. Such consultations should be conducted at the suggestion of one of the Parties. The time and place must be agreed through diplomatic channels.

Article 12 Application of the Agreement

The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to investments made by investors of one of the Parties before and after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, and shall be applicable from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, but it shall not apply to any dispute regarding investments that have arisen or any claim that was settled before its entry into force. the power.

Article 13 Making changes

This Agreement may be amended by mutual written consent of the Parties, which shall enter into force in accordance with the procedure provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 14 of this Agreement. Such amendments will be integral parts of this Agreement.

Article 14 Entry into force and termination of the Agreement

1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of receipt, through diplomatic channels, of the last written notification that the Parties have completed the internal procedures necessary for its entry into force. 2. This Agreement is concluded for ten (10) years, after which it is automatically extended indefinitely and is valid until the expiration of twelve (12) months from the date of receipt by one of the Parties through diplomatic channels of a written notification by the other Party of its intention to terminate this Agreement. 3. With respect to investments made prior to the date of termination of this Agreement, articles 1-12 of this Agreement shall remain in force for a subsequent ten-year period from the date of termination of this Agreement.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement. Done in Astana on October 7, 2010, in two originals, in Kazakh, Serbian, Russian and English, all texts being equally authentic. In case of disagreement in the interpretation of the provisions of this Agreement, the English text will prevail.

For the Government For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Republic of Serbia

RCPI's note! The text of the Agreement is attached in Serbian and English.

President

Republic of Kazakhstan

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