ALMATY, Kazakhstan (Dow Jones)--Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov Thursday defended his government's right to intervene in natural resources contracts if investors violate their terms or try to sell their resources business.
"I believe that stability of contracts is a necessary and inviolable element just like the right to private property," Karim Masimov said according to a report posted on his government's Web site. "But in case an investor violates an agreement, then the government has the right to review it."
Masimov said that the government also has a right to intervene if an investor sells its natural resources business, without specifying in what way the government could do that.
Masimov also said he was hopeful that the ongoing dispute between Kazakhstan and a consortium led by Italy's Eni SpA (E) developing the giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea would be resolved soon.