Demonstrators took to the streets for a third day in protest of the relaxation of liquefied petroleum gas pricing limitations, which has sparked widespread outrage.
On Tuesday, protests against rising energy costs took place for the third day in a row in Kazakhstan, marking a rare display of major public opposition in the former Soviet republic.
On Tuesday, police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse an extraordinary tens of thousands-strong march in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.
Two AFP journalists claimed that the police opened fire after the protestors refused to disperse, estimating that there were more over 5,000 protesters present.
The protests began over the weekend in the oil-rich western Mangystau region’s town of Zhanaozen, spurred by the relaxation of liquefied petroleum gas pricing limitations (LPG).
They’ve since extended to a number of towns and cities, including the regional capital of Aktau on Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea coast, as well as a subcontractor camp for Tengizchevroil, Kazakhstan’s largest oil company. Thousands of people are said to have participated in the protests.
Demonstrators in Zhanaozen, an oil industry hub where dozens of people were killed in 2011 protests sparked by the firing of oil workers who demanded better pay and working conditions, demanded that the price of LPG be cut in half from 120 tenge ($0.27) per litre to the price it was sold at last year.
Retailers have agreed to halve the price, but President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s government has claimed that additional price reductions are unfeasible due to production expenses.
Previously, the price was regulated, but officials said that artificially low costs made LPG production unfeasible.
The president has called for “conversation.”
Tokayev has taken steps to defuse the unrest.
Late Tuesday, Putin claimed on Twitter that authorities had decided to decrease LPG prices in the western Mangystau region “in order to ensure country stability.”
“Law enforcement agencies have been directed to maintain public order. Demonstrators must be responsible and eager to engage in conversation, according to Tokayev, who spoke earlier on Tuesday.
His comments came after videos on social media surfaced on Monday evening showing police encircling demonstrators in Aktau.
Public protests are uncommon in Kazakhstan’s tightly controlled parliament, which is devoid of opposition, and are considered unlawful unless organisers file a notice in advance.
Tokayev was appointed president in 2019, after being hand-picked by the country’s founder, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
However, Nazarbayev, who has led Kazakhstan since 1989 and is 81 years old, retains control of the country as chairman of the security council and “Leader of the Nation,” a title that grants him special governing powers and immunity from prosecution.
