State seeks bailed-out bank sales; mooted deals get mixed reception. Four years after being nationalized and restructured by the Kazakh government, a trio of troubled Kazakh lenders are eyeing a return to private-sector control.

Kazakhstan's controversial Muslim Union and Muslim Committee on Humans Rights in Central Asia have proposed to set an age limit for the country's future presidents to 80 years and put to death any ruler who tries to keep the reins beyond that age, Central Asian News reports.

The title of Greg Palast's piece, "Boston, Bombs and Borat: From Kazakhstan with Truth," initially posted online on April 28th immediately struck an intriguing note. After all, it's not very often that a seemingly critical journalist with lots of muckraking cred pens an article from tightly controlled Kazakhstan, the massive resource-rich authoritarian state at the strategic heart of Central Asia.

Two Kremlin-controlled banks are planning to back a bid for U.K.-listed Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC (ENRC.LN), the Sunday Times said. VTB Bank (VTBR.RS) and OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), majority owned by the Russian state, have been hired by three central Asia tycoons who founded ENRC, the U.K. newspaper said. They've set up a vehicle to acquire the outstanding shares and have 12 days to table a bid to meet a Takeover Panel deadline, the Sunday Times said.

Recently, Kazakhstan's Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev finally confirmed China's interest in becoming involved in one of the world's most expensive energy projects ever at the Kashagan oilfield on the Caspian Sea.

The most surprising thing about the founding trio of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation – which controls some of Kazakhstan's most important assets – is that none is a native Kazakh.