Power failure

GAZPROM is usually seen, especially by Europeans, as a powerful tool of Kremlin-led statecraft. But in Central Asia, a region that was once part of the imperial Russian and then Soviet empires, the gas giant has become bogged down in a dispute that makes Russia look anything but omnipotent.

The problems began in April, when Gazprom took over Kyrgyzstan’s gas network, pledging “a stable gas supply”. A few days after the handover, Uzbekistan, a big gas provider, stopped exporting to Kyrgyzstan’s south. It said curtly that it had no contract to sell to Gazprom.

The shut-off has affected hundreds of thousands in the Ferghana valley, a volatile region of Kyrgyzstan. Some are hunting for electric stoves to cook on; others are burning rubbish or even furniture to make meals. It is unclear whether or when the gas will be switched back on. Fears are growing about the harsh winter, when electricity supplies are always irregular.

A resident of the regional capital, Osh, says city officials have begun distributing gas cylinders, but cannot say how much the liquid gas will cost or where to buy it. “Nobody has answers.” More and people are asking what on earth the Kyrgyzstani president, Almazbek Atambayev, is doing about the matter. He has called for “a little patience”. A lot may be needed. Promises to bypass Uzbekistan, by building a pipeline across the Tian Shan mountains from northern Kyrgyzstan, could take years.

Many Kyrgyzstani citizens criticised the sale of KyrgyzGaz to a gas company owned by their former coloniser. The deal came as Russia was promoting an economic and political alliance, the Eurasian Economic Union, which Kyrgyzstan is expected to join next year despite questionable benefits. The gas shortage gives Kyrgyzstanis more reason to wonder whether throwing their economic lot in with Russia is a good idea.

Gazprom is now said to be negotiating with Uzbekistan, whose strongman president, Islam Karimov, is no fan of Russia or its attempt to reassert control in the region. Uzbekistan prefers to sell its gas to China, making opaque deals that some blame for shortages at home.

The Kyrgyzstanis are stuck in the middle. The country’s prime minister complains that his counterpart in Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, does not take his calls. As the crisis drags on, some Kyrgyzstani politicians have suggested diverting irrigation water away from Uzbekistan. That would surely elicit a response—though one as explosive as gas.