Saniya graduated from Cardiff Law School in Wales in 2001 with LLB in Law and from London University in 2000 with LLM in Banking and Finance Law. She worked in international law firms and investment banks in the UK and Central Asia; started her private practice and founded Unicase, 2010.
In a country where almost each firm falls victim to the larger society’s prejudices and misconceptions about gender, Unicase was founded with an aim to reward a kind of environment where every employee, be it a Partner or inferior, would enjoy true equality and would be able to fulfil their potential. Hence the Project Equality, as we refer to it, effective from the very outset.
Rolled out within the Firm back in 2010, the Project encourages and promotes every staff member equally, and we have no preferential treatment based on any kind of difference. Interestingly, this resulted in us having 63% of women among Partners. Next, we support our experts by promoting them not only within the Firm but also beyond, submitting their profiles and project highlights to international ratings. To maintain equality, we believe that the major component is keeping experts highly recognised, paying special attention to the women and not forgetting about the men. Moreover, we do understand and recognise the importance of families and children. So we support women going on maternity leaves, introducing technology tools for them to keep their skills agile while away from work, and allow mothers to work flexible hours. Also, every staff member has their own hat, which allows for creating efficient teamwork and communication flow, thus minimising possibilities of internal conflicts or securing deals. There is healthy competition present, though. Lastly, Unicase has a warm and supportive climate which keeps every woman expert comfortable and content under any existing circumstances.
- Provided the USAID and the Ministres of Energy with legal support on introduction of new mechanisms for energy procurement through actions or PPP in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, analysed and created the legal framework for hydropower projects in Kazakhstan.
- Analysed, reviewed, and provided recommendations on regulation and utilisation of the geothermal energy in Kazakhstan for the World Bank; resolved legal, institutional, tariff, licence, and permit issues;
- Advised an international investment company on a 2 GW wind project in Kazakhstan, the largest investment in renewables so far;
- Developed draft laws on heat supply for Asian Development Bank on Electric Power Supply Law, Law on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency, Law on Natural Monopolies and Regulated Markets influencing the heating sector;
- Designed an appropriate regulatory model for the development of small-scale renewable energy technologies in Uzbekistan.
- Kazakhstan Bar Association
- Management Board Member
- Qazaq Green Association, Independent Director
- LLB, Cardiff Law School, University of Wales, the United Kingdom, 1996-2000
- LLM, Queen Mary College, London University, the United Kingdom, 2000-2001
- Adilet Higher Law School, Law Degree (with distinction), Kazakhstan, 2003-2005