| Abstract: |
This paper investigates the applicable international economic regulation
framework for the state owned enterprises (SOEs) of Kazakhstan, one of the
powerhouse in the Central Asian region in respect to natural resources,
territory, and scale of economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union,
notwithstanding to the fact that Kazakhstan chose the path of radical
transition to a market economy and organized several rounds of a large scale
privatization program, the presence of SOEs in the economy is still high, and
more than half of its gross domestic product (GDP) reportedly is produced by
SOEs. Moreover, the sovereign wealth fund keeps important assets under its
management, and competition law does not function well on state subsidy
issues. In 2015, on the other hand, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union
entered into force, and Kazakhstan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and concluded a new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the
European Union (EU). The importance of such international economic treaties
lies in that Kazakhstan made several significant accession commitments,
including price regulation during the WTO accession and agreed to inclusion of
a far-fetching SOE chapter in the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement with EU. Although, with respect to Kazakhstani SOEs, these treaties
have not yet generated enough practice, but it can be concluded that the above
treaties highly disciplined the Kazakhstani SOEs, and that their enforcement
and dispute settlement situation needs to be followed carefully. |