Francesco Bentivegna is a lawyer and Italian negotiator skilled in international transactions, particularly in the business areas of oil and gas, as well as in the field of agreements related to extraction process and infrastructure. He has over 40 years of professional work experience around the world and more than 20 years of working experience in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as a legal counsel and strategic advisor in negotiations with the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the negotiation of all major agreements and settlements.
Over the past 20 years he has established and developed a network of relationships with senior representatives of the government, and with the diplomatic and business community as well in Kazakhstan.
Academic:
University of Palermo: 1973. Law degree. Thesis about “Succession to Multilateral Treaties”. Summa cum Laude.
University of Texas in Dallas, USA: 1981. Diploma of the Academy of American and international law.
Member of the Bar of Milan.
Languages: Italian, English, French, Russia.
Career:
1974 – Milan, Italy: he worked as a trainee lawyer and then qualified as a lawyer.
1977 – Milan: ENI, the Italian National Oil Company (Italy) – Lawyer – Legal Office for International Affairs.
1981 – University of Texas in Dallas, USA: Academy of International Law.
1985 – Milan: Manager, Business and Legal negotiations Agip Spa.
In this capacity he led the negotiations for several oil agreements worldwide, including Agip and various sovereign states (such as Norway, China, Nigeria and the Republic of Congo). In 1987 he was appointed representative of the Legal Committee on behalf of Agip for the North Sea in Norway.
1993 – Reading, UK: Head office at Karachaganak Venture between Agip and British Gas, in the developing of one of the world’s most important oilfields.
1993 – Almaty, Kazakhstan: he took part in negotiating and drafting of the Agreement on the principles of sharing production between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Agip / British Gas. 1994: Almaty, Kazakhstan: he was officially invited to attend sessions on the drafting of the Kazakhstan’s Constitution and to lecture on the Italian Constitution by the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
1995 – Aksai, Kazakhstan: Resident legal manager of the Karachaganak Venture. In this capacity, he took part to all the important meetings and negotiations of the project which led to the signing of the Final Agreement on Production Sharing in Washington in 1997, between the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign investors.
1997 – London, UK: he was appointed General Counsel of the Karachaganak Venture, as to coordination and supervision of the legal area under the Karachaganak project, including legal departments in London, Aksai and Astana, with a total workteam of sixteen lawyers.
1997: Director of the Board of KMSL Ltd, Karachaganak Marketing Services Limited.
1998 – Almaty, Kazakhstan: he took part to the negotiation of Amendment no. 1 of the Final Production Sharing Agreement.
1999: Director of the Board of KPDL Ltd, Karachaganak Petroleum Development Limited.
2003: Astana, Kazakhstan: he took part to the negotiations for the signing of the first settlement agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign investors.
2006 – Astana, Kazakhstan: he took part to the negotiations for the signing of the settlement agreement no.2 between the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign investors.
2006: Director of Board of Eni BTC (Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan) Ltd.
2007 – Moscow, Russia: he took part to the negotiations leading to the signing of the agreement between Gas Sales KazRosGas (a joint venture between Gazprom and KazMunaiGas) and foreign investors.
2009 – Astana / London: he was given the task by the Seniors of the Contracting Companies ENI, British Gas, Chevron and LukOil to lead and coordinate on behalf of the Contracting Companies the working group on the side of the contractor in relation to a series of ongoing disputes and arbitrations in progress. The negotiations ended in December 2011 with the signing of a settlement agreement.
2010-13: he moved to Astana to work as a Senior Advisor for the president’s Agip Caspian Sea.
2014: he moved back to London, where he currently works as an independent consultant.
Awards:
2004: he was awarded a Pochetnaya Gramota (Certificate of Honour) and a medal from the President of KazMunaiGaz, the Kazakh state oil company, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the Karachaganak field.
2009: he was awarded a certificate of honor and a medal from the President of the Association of KazEnergy oil companies to celebrate the 110th year of the Kazakh oil sector.
Memberships:
Since 2002: Member of the British-Kazakh Society.
2013: Member of the Russian and CIS Arbitration Network.
2013: Member of the British-Azerbaijani Law Association.
2015: Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”).