Bolotov & Partners LLP

As of today, 17/04/2020 in Kazakhstan there are:

Infected persons -1 470

Recovered persons – 277

Passed away – 17.
Of course, there are no benefits from quarantine regime, we are forced to be at our homes, prices to the food products increased approximately to 8 – 9%, prices to non-food products increased approximately to 5%, utility fees and other services increased to 3,5%.

The majority of infected persons are still in Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities. We extend our deepest condolences to the closed ones of those who suffered from this challenging situation.We previously informed you that Kazakhstan continues to maintain emergency situation with all consequences related to this.

However there are improvements of the situation related mainly to economic situation in Kazakhstan, but not with overcoming COVID-19.

“Pursuant to the website of the head of government, the state commission, taking into account the position of the Ministry of Health, on the grounds of suggestions of the akims (local governors), decided to gradually re-start functioning of business entities in the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty. The stringent sanitary and epidemiological measures shall be maintained.

Firstly the operation of industrial and construction enterprises shall be restored from April 20 as well as certain sectors of the service industry shall resume their work. Compliance with strict sanitary and epidemiological standards shall be compulsory in order to resume work.

The State Commission on April 15, 2020 determined a specific list of activities of enterprises that shall resume work in Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities.

The Head of Government ordered to provide strict control over ensuring sanitary and epidemiological safety at enterprises that shall resume work, as well as observance of social distance between employees at workplaces”.

Certainly even such alleviation of the measures shall result in a revival of the economy; we hope that the planning of use and protection of intellectual rights shall again attract the attention of their owners.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that most of the employees of our firm fully work remotely and without the need to come to the office or other organizations, we do not suppose that legal services in the field of intellectual property shall be among those services enlisted by the state commission, anyway we shall keep you informed.

So far, there is no certainty as to what shall be in practice related to observing or restoring missed deadlines, or considering disputes related to protection of trademarks or patents or other intellectual property objects. Currently, most of the employees of the National Institute of Intellectual Property (NIIP) are also working remotely, doing what is possible, however, it is now not appropriate to talk about legislative amendments or the approved operating procedure for NIIP, which is extremely important organization for protecting IP rights.

Should anything change we will inform you immediately. Please keep in touch and feel free to contact. We are able to provide majority of our services online.

In conclusion we would like to say once again that our firm continues to function please feel free to contact us with instructions or for consultations. We shall do our best in this current challenging situation in Kazakhstan and other countries of Central Asia. Countries where we work and have regular practice: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Armenia and Georgia.