Uzbekistan: The head of the region responded with abuse to the protests of Ferghana’s residents, who were suffering from the cold

An audio recording appeared in the network, in which the head of Ferghana region, Shukhrat Ganiev, on December 2 reacted to the video of protest in Kuva region. Freezing people, in protest, set fire to tires, demanding that the authorities heat in their homes.

The speech of the region’s head was recorded secretly, not everything can be understandable, but you can hear him saying that “a couple of fools set fire to something on the road and gathered people, filmed it and posted it on the net”. Shukhrat Ganiev, without explaining the reasons for the lack of gas supply, laid the blame on local officials and promised to fire them. Not limited to threats, he hoped for the help of the clergy, and added that “today the imams will go to Kuva and give lessons to the population”.

“Inviting local mullahs to suppress protests is evidence of the authorities’ complete helplessness in providing the population with heating,” a local blogger told ACCA.

Actions of dissatisfaction due to problems with gas supply are held throughout the country; their intensity decreases when the temperature in the country becomes “+”. The authorities of Uzbekistan have now developed a scheme to counter public outrage. The complex applies both power methods of dispersing the crowd and the work of special propaganda groups consisting of law enforcement authorities, officials and representatives of public organizations.

The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev, at the meeting on December 2, preferred to lay the blame on officials.

In addition to problems with gas supply, electricity cutoff is recorded throughout the country. In order to rectify the situation, the agreement was reached between “Uzbekiston milliy electr tarmoklari” JSC and the state Power Corporation of Turkmenistan “Turkmenenergo” concerming the import of electricity in 2019-2020. It will eliminate the shortage of electricity and ensure uninterrupted supply of consumers in the country from December 1. The country is no longer able to compensate for the shortage of gas by supplies from outside, because along with Turkmenistan it has export obligations.