This is the first in a two-part series on Kazakhstan focusing on issues of national identity. This installment explores Kazakhstan's relationship with Russia.

Samsung C&T signed an US$18.8-billion deal to sell electric power generated in a coal-fired thermal power plant in Kazakhstan to the Kazakh government for the next 20 years. This is one of the deals made during the state visit by Korean President Park Geun-hye.

Hard-drinking Kazakhstan is moving to curb alcohol abuse by extending a ban on late-night alcohol sales. The new bill banning retail sales between 9 p.m. and noon was signed into law by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on June 18. The rules extend an existing late-night ban on alcohol sales (including beer) and will hit retail outlets which do a roaring trade in late-night booze sales. Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs will not be affected.

Venable cut ties with Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly used as a political tool by the country's strong man Vladimir Putin, effective March 31. The DC legal/lobbying firm collected $250K during the year ended April 30, according to its federal filing.

The emergence of the Eurasian Economic Union raises concerns about growing isolation from the west. In the Palace of Independence in Astana, the post-Soviet capital of Kazakhstan, the three heads of state rose to their feet in front of a 1,000-strong audience of senior officials, and somewhat awkwardly gave themselves a round of applause.

Uzbekistan's president on Friday criticised a new economic union clinched last month between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, warning of a loss of political independence for the ex-Soviet countries.