Sergei Vataev is an Almaty City Advocates' Bar advocate and a partner with Legit Avocates Bureau. His practice focuses on civil law litigation, arbitration, corporate and project finance matters, and white-collar criminal law issues. He is admitted to practice in Kazakhstan courts of general jurisdiction (up to Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and in the Court of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). A significant part of his work is acting as a Kazakhstan law expert in international arbitrations and foreign litigations.
Mr. Vataev's extensive experience includes corporate, commercial, tax, customs, regulatory issues, contractual and regulatory litigation, and arbitration. He has advised foreign investors in litigation and arbitration proceedings on expropriation issues relating to their investments and has defended clients in commercial and regulatory lawsuits. Mr. Vataev has also advised clients on complex project transactions involving the innovative use of payment and debt instruments, including municipal financing, securitization, and securitization restructuring.
Mr. Vataev is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a listed arbitrator in several renowned Kazkahstan domestic arbitration institutions, such as Kazakhstan International Arbitrage, the International Arbitration Court (Almaty), and others. The Chairman of the International Arbitration Centre at the AIFC included him in the panel of arbitrators of the IAC AIFC. Mr. Vataev acted as an arbitrator in cases resolved by the ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris), CIETAC, Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and cases under the UNCITRAL Rules. On 1 July 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce announced that its International Chamber of Commerce World Council appointed Mr Vataev as a member of the ICC Court representing Kazakhstan for 2024-2027.
Before his advocate practice, Mr. Vataev was a partner in major international law firms' Kazakhstan practice. For many years he has been recognized as one of the leading lawyers in Kazakhstan by Chambers Global, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers (in the areas of arbitration, mediation, and litigation), and PLC Which Lawyer (in the field of dispute resolution). He also has been ranked in Band 1 and Band 2 in Dispute Resolution – Kazakhstan practice by Chambers Global [ https://www.chambersandpartners.com/122/467/editorial/2/1#profileEditorial_409746 ] for more than ten years in a row. Mr. Vataev has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Kazakhstan by Best Lawyers since 2009 and named by Best Lawyers the "Lawyer of the Year" in 2017-18 for Arbitration and Mediation[ https://www.bestlawyers.com/lawyers/sergei-vataev/104338 ].
Before entering private practice, he served as legal counsel in a governmental agency and in the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where he co-drafted several laws.
He is fluent in English and Russian.