Kazakhstan will not enforce a controversial court ruling by the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) that ordered the recovery of $1.4 billion from Gazprom in favor of Naftogaz.

Kazakhstan’s Justice Minister Yerlan Sarsembayev said the republic would not become a “transit platform” for enforcing decisions that lack legal jurisdictional ties to the country, The Caspian Post reports via Interfax-Ukraine.

Sarsembayev said that Kazakhstan’s legal system does not provide grounds for enforcing disputes that fall outside its jurisdiction, and therefore the AIFC court decision will not be implemented within the country.

The minister also stressed that the ruling was issued unilaterally and has not yet entered into legal force. He noted that the defendant still has the right to appeal the decision within 14 days of its issuance.

Sarsembayev argued that the dispute lacks essential legal connections to the AIFC framework, pointing out that Gazprom is not registered as an AIFC participant, the disputed contract was not signed under AIFC jurisdiction, and the parties did not agree to resolve enforcement matters through the AIFC court.