Kazakhstan’s president asks Russia for help as unrest grows

WHEN KAZAKHSTAN’S government resolved to end subsidies on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) three years ago, the decision attracted little attention. Its leaders could not have guessed that the move would threaten the very existence of the regime that has ruled the Central Asian country since it became an independent republic in 1991.

Price controls had to go, officials explained at the time, to stimulate investment in a sector plagued with inefficiencies. Fuel producers had little incentive to increase supply when the system meant they ended up selling it at a loss. On January 1st fuel prices became fully market-based. The cost of LPG, which many Kazakhs use instead of petrol or diesel to run their cars, soon shot up, doubling in some places from 60 tenge ($0.14) a litre at the end of last year to 120 tenge by January 2nd.