Kazakhstan and Central Asia

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Kazakhstan occupies a special place in the relations between Switzerland and the East. The country, where Swiss-based traders have been active since the 1990s, is the largest producer of uranium in the world and an important producer of oil, zinc, copper, chromium and other metals. Switzerland also leads a voting group in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Poland and Serbia.¹ The constituency, sometimes called Helvetistan, gives Switzerland a seat on the executive boards of both institutions and links Swiss foreign economic policy closely to the states of Central Asia. The relations with Kazakhstan have not been free of controversy. Swiss courts and prosecutors have handled several cases involving the assets of Kazakh politicians and businessmen, among them the relatives of the former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Swiss banks have been involved in the investigation of corruption in the Kazakh oil sector.² For the traders of Zug, Kazakhstan has remained an important source of raw materials. It has gained further importance since 2022, since it offers an alternative to Russian supplies for some metals and a transit route for trade between Asia and Europe.

Notes

State Secretariat for International Finance, "Switzerland in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)", sif.admin.ch: Switzerland joined the IMF in 1992 and heads a voting group of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Liechtenstein, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan with a seat on the Executive Board, which since 2014 it has shared in rotation with Poland; World Bank, "EDS24", worldbank.org: constituency of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ↩
Public Eye, "Swiss-Kazakhstan – a long and scandalous love story", publiceye.ch: in the "Kazakhgate" affair of the early 2000s the Geneva judiciary found accounts of President Nursultan Nazarbayev at Crédit Agricole and Pictet fed by US oil companies and froze some CHF 115 million, later returned through the BOTA Foundation; money-laundering inquiry of the Office of the Attorney General from 2010 against his son-in-law Timur Kulibayev involving Credit Suisse, closed in 2013. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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Kazakhstan and Central Asia

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?