Essence of the Conflict
On August 9, Nurshat Akbergenova accused the well-known blogger in her post on Threads of not paying for the cake made for her birthday. The pastry chef reported that she spent 440,000 tenge (approximately 71,600 som) on ingredients and noted that the weight of the cake was 18 kg.
In her next message, Nurshat noted that she is a single mother with two children and asked for support from her followers. These posts quickly went viral and spread across social media.
Aselina Batyr's Response
Blogger Aselina Batyr, for her part, stated that the weight of the cake was "not 18, but 8-9 kg," adding that the rest was decoration. In her Instagram, she claimed that she transferred a prepayment of 100,000 tenge to the pastry chef and attached a screenshot of the correspondence for confirmation.
According to the blogger, the final cost was not agreed upon in advance, and if the prepayment was 100,000 tenge, it is logical to assume that the final price should not exceed 300,000 tenge.
It is also known that Aselina is a master of korpe, and her husband is a citizen of Greece and a diplomat.
Public Opinion
On the Threads platform, users' opinions were divided: some support the blogger, claiming that the pastry chef should have indicated the price before accepting the order, while others defended the pastry chef. The discussion also touched on the cost of the cake: some commentators consider 600,000 tenge to be an excessive amount, while others deem it justified for the individual approach and manual labor.Expansion of the Discussion
The situation attracted attention not only in Kazakhstan but also beyond its borders. This private conflict became an international topic, touching on issues of dessert pricing, business ethics, and small business challenges.Moreover, many memes on this topic have appeared online.
Court Proceedings
On August 16, it became known that the pastry chef had filed a lawsuit. Nurshat demanded to recover 500,000 tenge from Aselina Batyr for the 18 kg cake, as well as an apology for offensive comments and moral compensation in the amount of 3 million tenge.Aselina's lawyer requested that the case be heard in a closed session, explaining that it concerns the wife of a diplomat who was subjected to cyberbullying. However, the court rejected this motion, and the hearings were held openly.
The court also suspended proceedings for a linguistic examination.
Court Verdict
The court decided to recover 200,000 tenge from Aselina Batyr in favor of Nurshat Akbergenova, which is the difference between the recognized cost of the cake at 300,000 tenge and the prepayment.Since the cake was made from products of the restaurant where the plaintiff works, but documents for expenses were not presented, the claim for the full amount of 600,000 tenge was rejected.
Furthermore, the court found that Aselina's publications on Instagram and Threads, where she called the pastry chef a "fraud" and accused her of "extortion," were defamatory. This information was deemed false and damaging to Nurshat's reputation. Aselina was required to publish a retraction in the same social media.
The claim for moral compensation was partially upheld, and Aselina will pay 100,000 tenge. Court costs were allocated proportionally. The decision has come into force.
The court also issued a private determination, noting violations by legal consultant Arzhan Saduakass, who represented Nurshat's interests.
