Kazakhstan: Governor Goes Way of the Medicis

When people talk about cozy relationships among the powerful in Central Asia, they often go on to enumerate the earthly pleasures that come with them -- luxury homes, exotic vacations, Swiss bank accounts.

But a recent story posted on the Russian-language Lenta.ru news site suggests a whole new realm of riches on offer for some of Kazakhstan’s leaders.

As Lenta reports, Sergey Kulagin, until recently the governor of the country’s northern Kostanay Province, now appears in a fresco on the walls of the St. John the Theologian Cathedral, which opened its doors in the city of Rudniy earlier this month. Kulagin, who served as governor for seven years until being appointed a senator last week, is depicted in Roman robes, but sans his usual spectacles, as one of the greeters of Christ in Jerusalem.

A secretary of the Kostanaysko-Rudnenskaya Diocese, part of the powerful Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church, has confirmed Kulagin’s appearance in the new fresco. One can only guess what good deeds, performed toward the Church or the cathedral’s sponsor, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC (ENRC) Komek Fund, have earned the now-senator the gift of pictorial life with its hint at eternal grace.