Sanat Ablakov is the Founder and Managing Partner of Bond Stone International Law Firm, an AIFC Registered Legal Adviser ranked by Legal 500 EMEA, IFLR1000 and Asia Law Profiles, with offices in Almaty, Astana, Tashkent, Bishkek, Kyiv and Chicago. He has over 18 years of experience advising international investors, financial institutions and multinational corporations on cross-border transactions and regulatory matters across Central Asia.
Sanat practises the Acting Law of the Astana International Financial Centre, founded on English common law principles, alongside Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyz law. He specialises in cross-border M&A and foreign direct investment, AIFC licensing and regulatory advisory, project finance and development, and digital assets and fintech structuring. He regularly acts as lead Kazakhstan and AIFC counsel on transactions coordinated from London, Hong Kong, Dubai and New York, providing local law certainty within larger multi-jurisdictional deal teams.
Recent transactional highlights include advising an Australian strategic investor on a USD 12 million cross-border acquisition of a major industrial processing facility in Northern Kazakhstan — a complex matter involving corporate and regulatory due diligence, environmental liability structuring and share purchase agreement negotiation — and acting as project counsel to a Chinese state-owned enterprise on advisory aspects of a USD 360 million hydropower infrastructure development in Kazakhstan. Sanat also leads a growing practice advising AIFC-regulated financial services and digital asset clients on AFSA licensing, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.
Bond Stone's Chinese investor practice reflects sustained deal flow from Chinese state-owned enterprises and private investors in Kazakhstan's energy, mining and infrastructure sectors. Sanat holds an LL.M. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and is a member of the Almaty Bar Association.
- Advised CEFC China Energy Company Limited on the proposed $3.68 bln. acquisition of 51% equity stake in KMG International N.V. — China / Netherlands / Romania / Kazakhstan.
- Advised a major agri-food group on the $25 mln. acquisition of 100% shares in a Central Asian food production and distribution subsidiary from a Gulf-based food conglomerate — Russia / Saudi Arabia / Kazakhstan.
- Advised CWE (China International Water and Electric Corporation) on investment and M&A in alternative energy projects and full construction cycle of hydroelectric power plant worth of more than $360 mln. within the State Program of Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development (SPAIID).
- Advised TCO (Tengizchevronoil) on full cycle of social infrastructure project related to construction of water pumping facilities worth of more than $7 mln.
- Advised an Iranian engineering and project development group on the development, licensing and commissioning of a 5,000-tonne/year cathode copper processing plant in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan — USD 19.6 million — cross-border: Iran / Kazakhstan.
- Advised DNV AS (Norway) on the cross-border corporate reorganisation and debt restructuring — transaction value exceeding USD1.5 million — Norway / Italy / Kazakhstan.
- Advised an Australian strategic investor on the cross-border acquisition of a major industrial processing facility in Northern Kazakhstan — USD 12 million share purchase involving corporate and regulatory due diligence, environmental liability structuring and share purchase agreement negotiation — Australia / Kazakhstan.
- Banking
- Project finance
- M&A
- PPP/PFI
- Project development
- Construction and materials
- Energy
- Mining
- Oil and gas
- Social infrastructure
- Kazakhstan, Almaty Advocate Assotiation
- AIFC Registered Legal Adviser
- Almaty Bar Association; International Bar Association (IBA)
- LLB, Kazakh State Law University, 1999
- LLM, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2019