Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan beset by energy woes

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Swift action is being taken in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to overcome an energy crisis. Unusual steps such as switching off lighting in civil servants’ offices are being taken.

The mayor of Jalalabad, a large town in southern Kyrgyzstan, has switched off five of the six chandeliers in his offices in an attempt to set an example for the public to reduce energy consumption.

In neighbouring Uzbekistan, the supply of electricity to homes is being cut off at certain planned times as part of an economy drive. The State Committee for Deregulation, Competition and Enterprise says that power cuts last up to 11 hours a day in some provinces.

In Kyrgyzstan, power cuts have led to public protests in two villages in Chuy Province where residents go without power for up to 14 hours a day. “Targeted power cuts” are even occurring in the capital, Bishkek. The lights go out in districts where electricity consumption limits are exceeded. “The power supply to these districts is cut off for a few hours until they fall back within the limits,” the Ministry of Industry and Energy stated.

Meanwhile, by virtue of a decision passed on Nov. 25, Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev dismissed Minister of Industry, Energy and Fuel Resources Saparbek Balkibekov, and slammed the government for sparking panic and behaving unprofessionally.

Before his dismissal Balkibekov said that noncompliance with energy restrictions would find Kyrgyzstan engulfed in an energy crisis by February 2009, since the water level in the Toktogul reservoir, which supplies water to the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Plant that provides 40 percent of the country’s electricity, has fallen so far that the plant may have to be shut down altogether.

[AKIpress, Uzbek State Committee for Deregulation, Competition and Enterprise website, president of Kyrgyzstan website, 24.kg]